Two Years On
by Anna Rousseau
Summary: Season 7 premiere, Carter returns to work and is reunited with someone from the past
1. Someone Old Something New

I thought I'd repost the series in honour of the completion of part four.  
  
  
Title: "Someone Old, Something New"  
Series: 'Two Years On' - Part One  
Rating: PG-13+  
Genre: Carter/Anna  
Author: Anna Rousseau annadelamico@yahoo.co.uk  
Notes: Takes place at Season 7 premiere, one of the threads for the premiere. ****** indicates title sequence. Song uses is Shania Twain's 'Whatever You Do, Don't'. This was my first fic.  
  
  
'SOMEONE OLD, SOMETHING NEW'  
============================  
  
  
Dr. John Carter prodded his pecan pie with one of Doc Magoo's severly battered forks, just about aware of the fact that someone had asked him a question, "Huh?"  
  
"I said, 'When are you on?'," repeated Dr. Jing-Mei Chen, half chuckling whilst stirring a cup of black coffee.  
  
"Sometime soon, Deb," he answered distantly, staring out of the window into the cool August night, his mind processing the last few months of this year wondering how everything had gotten so out of hand. He certainly felt better, but he was ashamed that he had let himself get addicted, after the hard time he had given Chase. He would never have much respect for himself after doing that.  
  
"First day nerves eh, John?"  
  
"Something like that," Carter replied warily, dreading the day ahead of him.  
  
"It's been quiet around here without you," 'Deb' commented staring into his eyes. "I tried to call you in Atlanta..."  
  
"Deb..." he urged her to stop, he really didn't want to think about his time in the 'diversion programme'.  
  
"I was really worried about you."  
  
Carter opened his mouth to reply, but was interupted when Dr. Dave Malucci burst through the doors of the diner and broke into their conversation.   
  
"Hey, Carter! You've got to check out this new doctor, boy is she hot! Tall, blonde, leggy, pedes resident..."  
  
Deb rolled her eyes, but Carter wasn't really interested in Dr. Dave's new crush, "I'd better go now, you know, say hello to everyone and all that."  
  
"You're not interested then?" Dave pestered, sliding into the red vinyl booth next to Deb.  
  
"I'm not really in the mood Dave!" Carter replied, leaving money for his coffee and desert.  
  
"Suit yourself, my friend, but she *is HOT*," Dave replied, moving closer to the Chinese-American resident.  
  
"Got the message, Dave!" Carter added.  
  
"What ya doing tonight Dr. Chen?" Dave asked almost in the same breath.  
  
Deb rolled her eyes and pressed the demo button on her beeper, "Dammit, I'm on the code team today, it's a 911- see you around Dr. Malucci."  
  
She hastily exited the diner, tossing some dollar bills onto the melomine table top.  
  
Dave looked perplexed, "Was it something I said?"  
  
  
  
  
"Hey there, Carter!" Chuni Marquez R.N. said on spotting the senior resident. "Missed you!"  
  
"You too, Chuni," he replied after being engaged in a small hug by his friend, wondering if everyone was being a bit too friendly, the whole hospital must have known by now that he was sent to rehab for a narcotic addiction.  
  
"Good morning Dr. Carter," Dr. Kerry Weaver greeted him with a cheery smile, "We've all got new ID badges, with swipe cards- extra security for getting into facilities and such- I haven't given you yours yet- here."  
  
Carter took the ID card, which had a fairly new photo- he must have been just starting his third-year residency then...oh god, he remembered that day, Lucy was standing next to him. *No, it's all in the past* he thought.  
  
He glanced further down the card, all was in order: John Truman Carter MD, Chicago County General Hospital, Emergency Medicine, Chief Resident, Senior Triage Officer... *Chief Resident?* he looked again, no change.  
  
"Dr. Weaver?"  
  
"Yes, John?"  
  
"There's been a typo, see, it should say 4th Year Resident." Carter explained, pointing out the mistake.  
  
"No, that's correct." Weaver replied.  
  
Carter broke into a grin, "Serious? No kidding?"  
  
"You're ready for the responsibility, you're an excellent doctor, and I need your help. What can I say, Chen and Cleo are new and let's not even mention Malucci. You're the best resident this ER has, and one of the most dedicated I've worked with. Are *you* willing to do this?"   
  
She stared into his eyes, it was the sort of thing he needed to boost his confidence, to show him that they still respected him after what had happened- Kerry blamed herself for not helping him sooner, this was the least she could do.  
  
"Yes, absolutely!" Carter replied enthusiastically.  
  
"I'll brief you later, first, I want you to check on the new resident in Curtain 2."  
  
"OK, why do we have a new pedes resident?"  
  
Weaver explained the situation, "We're expanding the pedes ER thanks to Dr. Finch badgering Romano for the past 3 months."  
  
He'd obviously missed a lot.  
  
  
  
  
Carter grabbed the patient's chart from the rack and headed over to the curtain two, studying the pieces of paper. Halfway to the drawn curtain he stopped, something was familiar about that cursive scrawl on the fracture T-Sheet.  
  
He pushed back the bright printed curtain all the way and immediately stopped in his tracks. Carter would recognise her golden blonde hair anywhere, even though her back was turned to him as she applied a plaster cast to a small girl's arm.   
  
Her voice confirmed his identification of the new resident.  
  
"Great Haleh, can your page the orthopedes fellow and pass me a 5 inch?" She asked the non existant Haleh. Dave and Chuni looked on from the admit desk with bemused grins: Chuni because she knew what was going on; Dave because he didn't.  
  
Carter passed her the bandage from a nearby tray, his hand lingering on her delicate hand.  
  
She stopped, turned around and jumped off the stool and into his arms, "John!" She exclaimed.  
  
"Anna!?" Carter replied, dropping his chart onto the floor and enveloping Dr. Anna Del Amico in an affectionate hug, her wet hands dampening his lab coat with the plaster of Paris mixture. But Carter didn't mind.  
  
"I've missed you so much!" Carter said, burying his face into her thick blond hair, with a sigh of relief. He pulled her warm body closer to him, not wanting to loose her again.  
  
"Me too," Anna replied resting her check against his, relaxing in his strong arms, the tension in her muscles soothed by the warmth of his body. This is how she wanted to be, safe at last in his arms. She was just content knowing she could trust someone. Though she was relieved a tear rolled off her check onto his lab coat. She gave in as he held her closer, her messy hands creeping up to his thick hair. She held on to him with a strange urgency, not caring what the rest of the surrounding ER thought. She didn't want to loose him again. More tears cascaded down her face and she choked on their bitter sweetness, "Me too."  
  
*************************************************************************************************  
  
  
When they finally let go of one another, Anna laughed as she wiped her tear stained face with the sleeve of her lab coat, "I guess I look really stupid."  
  
"Not at all," Carter replied studying her face for clues.  
  
"Well you do!" Anna replied, pointing to the set lumps of plaster in his hair, "Look at your hair, Carter!"  
  
"I didn't notice." Carter replied truthfully, the woman he loved was in front of him and that's all that counted.  
  
"I'm sorry, I wasn't really thinking straight, here," she continued, reaching for his fairly tousled hair, picking out a few bits. Her hand lingered there, their eyes contacted and neither let down the gaze.  
  
Carter's eyes questioned her whilst Anna's were apologetic, "Why did you go, Anna?" He whispered.  
  
"I..."  
  
"Hello there!" Dr. Dave interupted brashly, "So I see that you and Carter know each other, Dr..."  
  
"Dave, this is Dr. Anna Del Amico, Anna this is Dr. David Malucci, my 'room-mate'," Carter said not breaking Anna's gaze.  
  
"Just call me Dr. Dave," Dave added, "Or anything else you like, honey."  
  
Anna broke their gaze and turned to Dave, "It's Dr. Del Amico to you, *honey*."  
  
"O-Kay, I'll see you two around," Dave replied, slightly embarrased, "I want the dirt later, Carter."  
  
Carter sighed, "That's Dave."  
  
"I gathered," Anna replied, "Carter, John...I...I'm sorry..."   
  
"Anna, it...don't, at least you're here," Carter explained. Anna nodded slowly and changed the subject.  
  
"So, Dr. Carter- can you manage coffee after I finish up," she asked, turning to her patient.  
  
"It's the grave-yard shift, Anna, I'm sure I can sneak away for a little while," Carter smiled, watching her work on the girl's arm. "What about in the lounge."  
  
"Ten minutes?"   
  
"See you then."  
  
  
  
  
"Hey, Carter!" Dave called the other doctor, "So what's the deal?"  
  
"What are you on about?" Carter asked staring at Anna's locker, *how come he hadn't noticed it before* it had been Harper's, then Anna's, then Lucy's and now Anna's again.  
  
"What am I on about!" Dave chuckled, "You and Dr. Hot."  
  
"Del Amico, Dave, it's Del Amico!" Carter already lived with Dave, he didn't need this all the time, luckily, this was the only shift that coincided with Dave's for a while. Carter hadn't intended to let out the extra room in his Lincoln Park condo, but it seemed a good idea at the time. Gamma was giving him all the money he needed, but he'd rather live off his own income, which meant letting out the spare room. But if he'd only known quite so undomesticated Dave was he would have thought twice. But hey, he was a nice guy and they had fun. Carter remembered the whole Dennis Gant situation and caved in.   
  
"So you know her, we've established that, but just how well?"  
  
Carter sat down at the table and started to review an anemic's chart, "We interned together here."  
  
"And..." Dave probed.  
  
"And what?"  
  
"Chuni said you sucked the marrow out of her pelvis."  
  
"Dave, did you mean for that to sound as disgusting as it did," Carter laughed in spite of himself.  
  
"Me, disgusting, you have the wrong man, my friend," Dave replied. "So did you date her?"  
  
Carter really didn't want to get into the long version of this, "I asked her out, yes."  
  
"And..."  
  
"Then her old boyfriend turned up and she wasn't quite over him, so she left with him to go to Philidephia."  
  
"Ouch," Dave winced, "So do you like her?"  
  
Carter came out with it without even thinking, "I haven't stopped loving her." He stopped, just realising what he said, "I mean, I care about her...but..."  
  
"Now we're getting some place."  
  
"I'm not sure what she'll think when she hears about the Atlanta thing..." Carter trailed off. "Why am I telling you all this?"  
  
"Cos I'm your bud!" Dave replied, "Well are you going to ask her ou...."  
  
Anna burst through the door, "Hey Carter! Oh, and Dr. Malucci, what joy!" Anna gestured to the two Starbucks cups she was holding, "Dark, caffinated, tall, hold the milk, two sugars- right Carter?"  
  
Carter was amazed, "Yeah."  
  
"I don't know how you drink this stuff, I'll just stick to a..."  
  
"Tall, slim, de-caff mocha with three sugars, cinnamon and whipped cream," Carter finished.  
  
Dave looked on, amused, "This is starting to get spooky."  
  
"The roof OK for you?" Anna asked, grabbing some donuts from her locker.  
  
"Great." Carter replied, "Bye Dave."  
  
"Bye Carter, Dr. Del Amico," Dave added to save face.  
  
**********  
I go jello when you smile,  
I start blushin',  
My head rushin',  
If you stand to close to me,  
I might melt down from the heat,  
If ya look my way one more time,  
I'm gonna go out of my mind.  
**********  
  
  
The night was stifling in the centre of Chicago, even on top of the roof. So the two doctors had shed their lab coats and layed them on the concrete floor, and sat down on them eating donuts and their coffees.  
  
"So John," Anna started, unbuttoning her blouse one button and fanning herself with a T-Sheet from her lab coat. "What's happened?"  
  
"Doug left over that kid, I think you heard about that and Carol, Jeannie's gone..." Carter started.  
  
"No, with you?" Anna explained, softening her tone, "Millicent, I mean, your grandmother told me about your med-student and the 'Atlanta thing' when I phoned the mansion..."  
  
"What do you think?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"Are you disappointed with me," Carter asked, "am I just as bad as any other addict. You know, I swore after Chase not to let this happen, but...it was so awful Anna...I'm so ashamed of myself...I...." Carter trailed off, not daring to look into her eyes for that look of disappointment or pity that he had seen on many a face since the 'accident'.  
  
"John," Anna said, her eyes full of understanding and compassion, "I came back because of you. I thought I needed more time to sort things up with Max, but he was just one big disappointment- it took me a while to realise that I'd rather be in Chicago- believe me, it was two wasted years..."  
  
"Why did you come back?"  
  
"Because I want to be here," Anna started, glancing at Carter who was pulling off his tie in the heat, "here, let me..."  
  
She didn't know why she did it but Anna reached over and pulled him towards her with the tie, then proceeded to pull it off, her hands skimmed over the buttons of his dark blue shirt, undoing the first one, then the second one- Carter caught her gaze.  
  
Anna pulled back and looked at him nervously *does he know that I love him, will he give me a second chance?* Her fingers wanted to keep going but her mind was telling her that this was too fast, but it felt so right. Carter's eyes penetrated into her very soul, she wanted to melt in their darkness. She was glad they were sitting because her knees were weakening, her face felt so flushed- she just hoped that he would think that it was from the heat.  
  
Carter took her hand and lent closer, "Anna...I..."  
  
Anna breathed quickly as he came closer, her heart and mind racing, trying to keep control she gulped, "Yes?"  
  
Carter lent in toward her until their noses nearly touched. They both knew this was right, they just were picking up where they left off. A beeper went off, but neither of them heard it.  
  
Anna could smell his aftershave and shampoo, feel the heat of his breath on her lips, intoxicating her...  
  
The roof door swung open, "Hey, you two! 911 to Trauma 2- NOW!" It was Dave, interuppting yet again.  
  
The doctors jumped apart guiltily and rushed to the door, picking up their lab coats on the way.  
  
*******  
You stop me in my tracks,  
My heart pumpin' to the max,  
I'm such a sucker for your eyes,  
They permenantly paralyze.  
*******  
  
  
"Didn't you get beeped?" Dave asked as they rode the elevator to the ER.  
  
"No," Anna started, a litle to quickly, trying to think of an alibi.  
  
"I left mine in the lounge." Carter realised, looking at Anna who quickly came up with a reason.   
"I was sitting on mine," Anna added, truthfully in any case.  
  
"Lucky beeper!" Dave commented with a leer.  
  
Anna gave him a sarcastic smile, "Here Carter, your tie." Anna added passing him the Italian silk necktie.  
  
"Thanks," Carter replied, placing it in his pocket and doing up one of his shirt buttons.  
  
Dave smirked and gave Carter a quizzical glance.  
  
The rest of the ride was spent in silence.  
  
  
  
  
"Hey, Anna!" Carter exclaimed as he went over to his locker.  
  
She cut in, as she sorted out her possessions and repositioned the magnetic name plate on the front of the locker, remembering when she took it off two years ago, "You free after your shift?"  
  
Carter was taken aback by this, they had both come on round about the same time and they were off at one am after a short shift, "Yeah...of course. What do you want to do?"  
  
"Can I go see your apartment?" She asked, pushing for all its worth, she longed to spend some time alone with him, as she had so longed since she had moved back to Philly.  
  
"Sure, let me grab my coat and sign off on a chart." Carter said, realising how close she was, he coughed and whispered throatily, "I can't promise cordon bleu cookery or anything- that's one thing that Kerry didn't teach me when I roomed at her place."  
  
"You lived with Kerry?" Anna giggled, "Kerry *Weaver*"  
  
"There is a lot that you've missed, Anna!"  
  
"Well at least I'm back."  
  
  
  
  
  
"Hey, Dr. Chen?" Dave asked, drawing up beside her locker, "You going home?"  
  
"Yep, off to hit the sack," she replied, pulling off her lab coat and stethoscope and placing them on a hook.  
  
"Want to see our apartment?" Dave asked, pulling on a leather jacket after removing his scrub shirt.  
  
"It's one am, Dave...I'm tired!" Deb pointed out, putting on a lightweight jacket.  
  
"I promise, nothing funny, hey Carter's probably there already, no need to worry," Dave said trying to convince her his motives were nothing other than friendly.  
  
"Well, OK, but I'll need some coffee first!" Deb replied, exiting the lounge and signing some charts that Haleh handed her.  
  
"Doc Magoo's OK?"  
  
Haleh raised an eyebrow.  
  
Chen nodded, "Perfect, Dr. Malucci."  
  
  
  
  
"Nice place, Carter!" Anna exclaimed after they removed their shoes (because the neighbours found people clomping around on the timber floors disturbing at night time), "Better than Roach Manor, anyway!"  
  
"Where are you staying?" Carter asked, pouring them both a glass of Diet Coke from the fridge and opening a packet of crackers.  
  
"At the dorms, got a position as the RA," she said, taking the drink.  
  
"You're kidding!"   
  
"No, why- is there something I should know?" She said suspiciously,  
  
"No, no- not at all. Well we have a spare room here, if you ever get stuck..." Carter explained.  
  
"Really?" Anna's eyes widened.  
  
"Yep..." he nodded, gesturing to a door next to the fire place which was already laden with family photos, shots from the ER, and Benton's appendix in a jar *still the same Carter* Anna thought with an inward chuckle.  
  
"Can I see, because I really wouldn't mind renting in a place this nice," she continued.  
  
"Sure, this way..." Carter said taking her hand and opening the door to the spare room, he shut the door and fumbled for the light switch, "It's here somewhere behind the door."  
  
"Wow, three windows, and fully furnished," Anna said squinting at the street alluminated room, she whirled around to Carter, "I..."  
  
But Carter was walking to her at the same time and they collided, toppling them onto the bed and sinking them into the mattress.  
  
"I guess you've now realised this is a really lumpy mattress!" Carter exclaimed, very aware of the fact that Anna was sprawled on top of him.  
  
Anna was also pretty aware of the fact that Carter was underneath her, "Well, I suppose I'll just have to smooth it out," Anna breathed, taking in his scent, the closeness of his lips, his boyishly tousled hair and his broad chest.  
  
Carter started to reply in a deeper, more throaty voice, "I love you Anna."  
  
Anna melted at those words, her whole being was taken in by his sincere and loving eyes, his breath warm on her lips, the warmth of his body.  
  
Carter wondered what would happen now, *she's going to blow you off again*, he could feel her breath come more quickly and he felt their chests rise and fall at the same time.  
  
"Me too," Anna replied in a quiet voice as he rose to meet her lips with the most innocent of kisses, which deepened as they both gave into three years of waiting.  
  
Carter rolled Anna over as they continued their passionate kiss, her hands went up to his hair, and pulled his lips closer to hers, his hands caressing her back and shoulders.  
  
Anna rolled back on top of Carter and caught her breath, she stroked his cheek, "I loved you from the moment I met you," Anna explained, moving her hands across his chest and engaging him in another kiss whilst her hands slowly unbuttoned his shirt, untucking it and getting herself as close as she could to his bare skin.  
  
"You sure?" Carter asked as they kissed, his hands moving down her back and hers wrapped in his hair.  
  
"You bet," Anna replied as she felt Carter's hands move to the zipper on the back of her floaty print dress. A few moments later Anna lay on top of Carter in her underwear, pressed as closely to him as she could, wanting to stay with him like this forever.  
  
******  
You've got my heart under attack;  
You give me shivers down my back.  
D'ya have to walk the way you do?  
I get weak just watchin' you.  
******  
  
  
"Here we are!" Dave exclaimed, opening the door to the Lincoln Park apartment.  
  
"Looks like Carter's asleep."  
  
"So, how about a tour?" Dave asked, after he locked the door.  
  
"That's why I'm here," Deb replied. "The only reason!"  
  
"Of course," Dave said with a chuckle, living area, dining area...kitchen through here....balcony, great view, bathroom.... *my room*," Dave added, "wanna see?"  
  
"Get on with it!" Deb said rolling her eyes.  
  
"Carter's room, I'll not disturb him, he has some serious Dr. Hot fantasising to do..."  
  
Deb looked at him increduosly.  
  
  
  
  
Their kisses became more urgent and Anna's hands wrapped around his shoulders as his caressed her smooth back, "Did I tell you how handsome you are?" Anna asked in between the fleeting kisses Carter planted on her neck.  
  
"No," he replied, thrilled at the feeling of her on top of him.  
  
"Well you are, and cute..." she breathed kissing his ear.  
  
"Uh-huh," he replied running his fingers down her back and kissing her neck.  
  
"Sexy..." she continued, running her fingers down his chest.  
  
"Really?" Carter asked, as he kissed her jawline.  
  
"Yeah and looks like you'll be great in bed..." she moaned as her lips hit his in an amazing kiss.  
  
  
  
"Oh and the spare room, you can always room with us if you want," Dave said opening the door and flicking on the switch, "really nice bed....oh mama!"  
  
Deb and Dave stood there open mouthed as they came across Anna Del Amico sprawled across an open-shirted Carter in her underwear, their lips locked and hands all over each other.  
  
They suddenly broke apart and sat up guiltily, Anna grabbed her strewn dress and a sheet, hugging them protectively around herself.   
  
Carter hastily drew his shirt around himself.  
  
"Dave...Deb...we..." he started.  
  
Dave, amazed as he was chuckled and turned to the open mouthed Deb, "Well, as you can see Dr. Chen, this is a really nice bed!"  
  
  
TO BE CONTINUED  
  
All feedback to annadelamico@yahoo.co.uk  
  
Permission is given by the author for any ER Webring/ ER Fanfic Webring site to archive this story, granted the authors name and e-mail address is acreditted to it.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	2. I Won't Leave You Lonely

Repost in honour of completetion of Part Four  
  
Title: 'I Won't Leave You Lonely'  
Series: 'Two Years On' Part Two  
Author: Anna Rousseau annadelamico@yahoo.com  
Genre: JC/AD   
Rating: PG-15  
Summary: Follows 'Someone Old, Something New'  
Notes: This is set in Season 7, basically Anna comes back and this is what happens. Song used, Shania Twain's 'I Won't Leave You Lonely'.  
  
Previously...  
  
"Oh and the spare room, you can always room with us if you want," Dave said opening the door and flicking on the switch, "really nice bed....oh mama!"  
  
Deb and Dave stood there open mouthed as they came across Anna Del Amico sprawled across an open-shirted Carter in her underwear, their lips locked and hands all over each other.  
  
They suddenly broke apart and sat up guiltily, Anna grabbed her strewn dress and a sheet, hugging them protectively around herself.  
  
Carter hastily drew his shirt around himself, "Dave...Deb...we..." he started.  
  
Dave, amazed as he was, chuckled and turned to the open mouthed Deb, "Well, as you can see Dr. Chen, this is a really nice bed!"  
  
  
************************************************************************************************  
  
Anna Del Amico sat on the bed, paralysed with fear *what's going to happen?* she thought, biting her tounge, anxiously, *what do they think of me*.  
  
Deb Chen coughed and turned away, "Nice apartment you have here, John...Dave, why don't you show me that balcony?"   
  
Dave opened his mouth, as if to persue a line of conservation linked to their discovery.  
  
"Dave?" Chen pressed, grabbing his sleeve and pulling him to the door.  
  
Dave obliged with a smirk, turned the light off and pulled the door to, "Don't mind us, we're just off to the balcony."  
  
Carter ran a hand through his hair and turned to Anna, fearing she'd call the whole thing off, "Anna, I'm sorry...what's so funny?"  
  
Anna was in fits of laughter, as she tried to pull her dress on, "It's just...just..." then she was lost in another fit of giggles.  
  
"What?" He asked, starting to laugh as well.  
  
"I never..thought that would happen the first time we..." she broke off again, laughing until her sides ached.  
  
"I see," Carter replied through his laughter, "so, was it all a mistake?"  
  
Anna turned to him, more somber as she zipped her dress up, "Are you kidding- I want to find out what would have happened next!"  
  
She lent over to him and planted a quick kiss on his lips, "Hmm, now I come to think of it, this bed isn't to bad, is it?"  
  
Anna laughed, "Not at all, I like so much that I might just take up your offer."  
  
Carter looked at her, "You want the room?"  
  
She looked at him seductively, "That's not all I want, Dr. Carter," Anna murmered in his ear as she ran her hand in his hair and took him in another kiss. Carter ran his hand down her back as Anna leant back into the pillows.  
  
Carter pulled away, breathing more heavily, "Dave, Deb..."  
  
She kissed his neck and looked at him coyly, "Carter, I think a foursome might cramp our style slightly..."  
  
"No...I meant..." he started, kissing her straight back.  
  
"I know what you meant, stupid!" Anna replied hopping off the bed before bending over Carter to finish doing up his buttons.  
  
"Hey..." he said, offended.  
  
"About the room..."  
  
"Yeah," Carter replied, fearing for the worst.  
  
"It's the bed, I don't know if I'll actually use it that much," she grinned evily, pulling Carter off the bed.  
  
"Don't say that, I'll just have to kiss you again!" Carter said, stroking her hair.  
  
Anna entwined her arms around his neck, tipping her chin up, "Well I have no objections."  
  
  
*************************************************************************************************  
  
  
Dave listened to the hysterical laughter coming from the spare room, "What are they up to, cos I always thought you moaned, not laughed," he commented, a sly smile on his lips.  
  
Deb sipped her drink, "Don't get any ideas, Dr. Dave."  
  
"Me, ideas?" Dave replied innocently, "I think you got me confused with Rudolph Valentino MD in there."  
  
Deb chuckled, "He never mentioned her to me."  
  
"All I know is they interned together and the first day she's here, he's got her in bed," Dave replied.  
  
"Well on top of a bed anyway!" Deb laughed.  
  
"Let's just say they must have been *more* than friends," Dave replied, jumping as the guilty couple exited the room, sitting down on the sofa, as if nothing had happned.  
  
"So what's the rent Dr. Carter?" Anna asked Carter as she took a sip of her flattened Coca- Cola.  
  
"We can figure that out later, say tomorrow night, after our shifts," Carter replied, a glint in his eyes.  
  
"Can't wait," Anna replied, smiling back.  
  
"Bet you can't," Dave muttered, "so Dr. Del Amico, what's this about?"  
  
Anna turned to him and giggled, "I'm taking the spare room."  
  
Dave turned to Carter, "Well, I think that goes without saying. Apologies, Dr. Chen- I'll inform you if the sleeping arrangements change, however. Of course, we can discuss other sleeping arrangements if you want..."  
  
"I have to go," Deb excused herself as she left for the door, "Nice meeting you Dr. Del Amico, Carter, Dr. Malucci."  
  
"It's just Anna," she added, smiling.  
  
"It's just anything you want," Dave smiled, before obtaining an icey glare.  
  
"I better be off, see you at 9?" Anna asked Carter as she pulled on her shoes.  
  
"You need a lift?" Carter asked before whispering, "Wanna stay here."  
  
"Like you wouldn't believe," she breathed into his ear, "but I've got RA responsibilities...I'll take the El, we're on for tomorrow, right,"  
  
"You bet. 'Night," Carter replied, as she left. Anna leant up for a brief but passionate kiss.  
  
"Sweet dreams," she replied, with a wink.  
  
"Like you wouldn't believe," he whispered, repeating her as she left.  
  
Dave chuckled.  
  
"What?" Carter asked, as headed for his room, a smile on his face and a spring in his step,  
  
"What yourself, Cassanova!"  
  
************************************************************************************************  
  
"...there they were, on top of the bed, oblivious to the world and half-naked," Chuni concluded to the surrounding group of Haleh, Lily, Lydia, Randi, Malik, Conni and Amira.  
  
Mark Greene looked up from the computer console and glared at the group who were sat gossiping at the admit desk.  
  
"No kidding," Lydia asked in disbelief, filling in a lab slip.  
  
"I knew it," Randi replied, "Didn't take them long though." Randi commented, before turning back to her fashion magazine.  
  
"We should have run a betting pool," Connie said, picking up a chart.  
  
"Well, they didn't give us much time," Chuni replied with a laugh.  
  
"Carter and Anna, eh?" Dave asked as he approached the desk, "I said it how I saw it."  
  
Mark was nearing the end of his tether, it was his first day back after a vacation and he was stressed, "I don't care who this Anna is, but I don't need to know about her sexual escapades with Dr. Carter thank you very much."  
  
Luka Kovac wandered up to the board and wiped off a patient's name, "Anna and Carter, eh?" Luka chuckled picking up another chart.  
  
The automatic doors swished open and Anna Del Amico entered, fanning herself with a Chicago Daily. Everyone grinned at her, whilst Dr. Greene continued on the computer.  
  
"Hey," Anna said as she checked the board, "have you seen Carter?" She was totally oblivious to the fact that she had been the topic of conversation through out the early morning shift, courtesy of Dr. Dave Malucci.  
  
"I thought he'd be with you," Dave said rather loudly. There was a lapse of laughter.  
  
Mark stopped, he knew that voice from somewhere. "I see someone has been decided to take over the role as Dr. Intercom," Anna replied, staring at Dave with, pointedly.  
  
"Who me?" Dave asked, "I have a patient in Curtain 3...gotta go!"  
  
"Hi, Dr. Greene!" Anna sighed, she greeted the attendings with a smile, "Good morning Dr. Kovac!"  
  
"Well does appear to be a good morning for you, Dr. Del Amico!" Luka grinned back, "Multiple fracture in the Peades ER when you're ready."   
  
Anna left in the direction of the lounge, humming a tune.  
  
"Anna *Del Amico*?" Mark replied distantly, *maybe I needed a longer vacation*.  
  
Greene saw the bemused look on people's faces, "Anna's back Dr. Greene," Chuni supplied the information as his brow furrowed.  
  
"Oh Carter and *that* Anna," he replied a smile played on his lips, "I knew it all along."  
  
*I go away and Kerry hires half of Eastern America!* he steamed, clicking the mouse viciously.  
  
************************************************************************************************  
  
Deb Chen wandered into Trauma 2 for some 6-0 nylon sutures, meeting Carter on the way in, his arms overflowing with intubation kits for the mobile storage units.  
  
"John, can I talk to you for a minute?" Deb asked, pulling him into the deserted Exam 1 next door and shutting the door.  
  
"Sure," Carter replied, placing the medical supplies on one of the gurneys.  
  
"It's about Anna...and you...and what seems to be..well...going on between," Chen coughed, "the two of you."  
  
"Ye-s?" Carter asked with a smile on his lips.  
  
"Well," Chen started.  
  
"I'm sorry that we made you two feel uncomfortable..." Carter added before being stopped by the fellow resident.  
  
"It's not that, uh," Deb took a deep breath. "Do you think this is a good idea...I mean- you're recovering from an addiction, an operation..."  
  
Carter's smile faded, "What? I don't believe this, god! You think...god... you're telling me that I'm really just using her as some sort of...I don't know...thing to get the attack out of my mind...geez Deb!"  
  
"John I was just..." Deb looked uncomfortable.  
  
"Just trying to help, I know, that's all that people want to do these days...well maybe," Carter fumed, then paused for a second as he recomposed himself. Carter finished his sentence as he lowered his crescendoing voice, "maybe I don't want any help!"  
  
"I.."   
  
"I have a patient," Carter said, gathering up the supplies, "for your information Deb, I think we are doing the right thing- I've loved this woman for three years, and I don't care a damn about what anyone else thinks because I know that I really *do* love her and I don't need anyone trying to tell me that it's just some figment of my imagination."  
  
************************************************************************************************  
  
  
Anna walked into the lounge to get her stethoscope from her locker. She noticed Carter was there, sitting on the sofa reading an issue of the 'Annals'.  
  
"Hey," she said softly, "I've been looking for you."  
  
Carter looked up, "Anna!"  
  
Anna walked over to where he was sitting and traced his jawline with her finger, "Are you OK? You don't look too well to me."  
  
He gave her a weak smile, "No, I'm fine." Carter stopped her hand with his own and held it for a while.  
  
"John?"  
  
Carter looked from the floor to her bright eyes that shone just like the light blue sapphires in his mother's engagement ring, "Anna...I don't think I can do this."  
  
Anna expected this, she had prepared herself for this situation, but was totally taken aback, "I...what?  
  
"I feel like I might be taking advantage of you...I really don't know if I've fully sorted out everything to do with..." Carter trailed off.  
  
Anna sighed, it had all been too good to be true, just a single moment where they had followed their insincts. This wouldn't have happened if they had acted on it 3 years ago, all the odds seemed to be stacked against them, first Max turning up and now his attack.  
  
"I know...I don't want to take advantage of you either...maybe I shouldn't of kissed you...but John, you have to know that I came back to help you and honestly, you aren't taking advantage of anything...I want this- but I have to know that you are ready, because I don't want to hurt you..." Anna stopped herself before she said 'again'.  
  
Carter sighed, he was so sure that he was over the whole thing, but now what Deb said lingered in his mind. He spoke one of his thoughts out loud, one he thought he would never utter, but one that had been turning over in his head for the past two years.  
  
"Are you going to leave me again?" Carter asked gazing off into the distance, his eyes welling up, "Because, I just can't take that...Anna please don't leave me..."  
  
Anna felt her eyes flood with tears at just the sound of his voice, breaking with fear and hurt. She knew all along that he still didn't trust her, she could here it in his voice the whole time.  
  
Anna knelt on the sofa, one leg either side of Carter's and she pressed her hands against his face, wiping his tears with her thumbs, "Of course not, I'm staying here with you...I am so sorry about before..but...I know that if I leave now or if you left me I wouldn't have a reason to live..." Anna sobbed through her sentences, choking back every other word.  
  
Carter pushed her hair behind her ears and enveloped her in a tight embrace, pressing their lips together, "I love you Anna," he whispered through their tears.  
  
"And I'll never leave you again."  
  
*****************  
Together  
Midnight in summer  
The air's so much warmer  
Falling in love under starlight  
Holding on so tight  
Together  
I won't leave you lonely, tonight  
I want you to hold me  
All night  
It's gonna be alright  
I won't leave you lonely tonight  
**********************  
  
  
Luka Kovac neared the end of a double shift, he blinked his bleary eyes and motioned to Conni, "If anyone needs me, I'll be in the lounge."  
  
Chuni shook her head, "Uh-huh, Anna and Carter are in there talking...I wouldn't go in there."  
  
Kovac ran a hand through his hair, "Ummm, exam one is free...I'll be in there, what exactly is going on between those two?"  
  
"Long story," Chuni replied with a grin. "Goes something like, boy meets girl, boy likes girl, boy asks girl out, girl thinks she still has feelings for another boy, girl goes back with other guy when he turns up where girl and boy work, boy and other guy fight before that, then girl sees the error of her ways and returns to boy."  
  
Luka looked puzzled, "In English?"  
  
"Well..."  
  
"No, no... I have to get some sleep, but tell me later, right?" Luka headed off in the direction of Exam 1.  
  
"Cuteness, eh?" Chuni commented.  
  
"More like a Greek god if you ask me," Conni replied from her position at the telephone.  
  
"No I meant Anna and Carter, I wonder if he's recovered from the Lucy thing yet."  
  
Conni sighed and picked up a pen, "I don't think he'll ever recover from it. That sort of thing will stay with him until the day he dies."  
  
"I'm glad Anna came back, she's just the sort of person he needs to get over it," Chuni commented, "and they make a cute couple."  
  
Yosh Takata came up to the two nurses and started to whisper, "Earlier, when I was in Exam 2, Dr. Chen and Carter came in and started talking- they didn't know I was there, and Dr. Chen started telling Carter that he wasn't ready for a relationship and that he didn't really love her."  
  
"The bitch!" Conni swore fuming, "She comes in here, hasn't seen Carter since he was a med-student and suddenly she knows what's best for him...geez, that woman!"  
  
"Well that isn't the point, Carter said, and I quote, that he has loved Anna for three years and he is still in love with her," Yosh continued.  
  
"Wow," Chuni said whistling, "we all knew that he liked her, but I really didn't guess it was that serious!"  
  
"No wonder he was so depressed when she left, I thought it was family trouble," Conni said, chewing on a sweet.  
  
"Now we know," Yosh concluded.  
  
**************************  
  
Carter and Anna were in the middle of a passionate embrace, their tears were drying on their cheeks.  
  
"I love you, John," Anna told him brushing his hair off of his forehead.  
  
"Me too," he replied stroking her hair, and kissing her on the temples.  
  
Suddenly the door burst open, "Drs Carter and Del Amico, get your asses out of the lounge now! We have 12 people in chairs and a major trauma coming in," Kerry stopped as she realised what was going on, then she continued with her harsh tone, "Despite what the staff's gossip is about, I doubt County's paying you to make out to boost morale, so get back to your real jobs before both your butts get fired!"  
  
With that she left, as ratty as when she came in, "What was that all about?" Carter mused.  
  
"PMS," Anna chuckled, prizing herself out of Carter's arms, "that or double shift."  
  
"See you at 7?" Carter asked giving her one last kiss on the lips.  
  
"Seven it is!" Anna replied with a sweet smile as she slung her stethoscope around her neck.  
  
********************  
  
Anna moved quietly to the place where Carter was standing in front of his locker, 7pm on the dot. She bent her head up and blew on his neck.  
  
Carter jumped, "Hey, Anna!"  
  
Anna smiled, "Sorry I made you jump."  
  
"So where are we going, your place or mine," Carter asked, "oh, the dorms...hmmm....my place, I guess."  
  
Anna opened her locker and pulled out a large duffel bag, "Here...I'll settle in tonight and then pick up the rest of my stuff from the dorms at the weekend."  
  
"They let you go pretty quickly," Carter commented as he helped her with the bag, "I wouldn't let you go that quickly..." he whispered in her ear.  
  
"Well not everyone is as great as you, John Truman Carter!" Anna smiled, pulling off her lab coat in the place of a light weight jacket.  
  
"You said it, not me!" Carter replied, a smile on his face as they walked out of the lounge.  
  
**********  
Imagine the air filled with jasmine  
The breeze lows with passion  
You and me dance with desire  
The moon is on fire; imagine  
  
  
Anna turned the faucet off and stepped out of the shower. Carter had used the shower before her, but had still left plenty of hot water- perfect. The only glich in this arrangement was sharing a bathroom with Malucci. *Don't get me wrong* Anna mused *I don't mind sharing a bathroom with Carter, anytime...* her thoughts drifted back to the night before. She thought of another reason to dislike Dr. Dave Malucci and added it to a quickly growing list.  
  
She wrapped one of the fluffy towels around her glistening body and stepped out into the lounge, heading for her room. Carter was coming out of his bedroom in a pair of blue pyjamas that matched the colour of the summer sky.  
  
"Hey," Anna said, making her way towards him.  
  
Carter could smell the soap that she always washed with on her skin, he longed for her touch, her kiss... he moved closer to her and placed his hands on her waist.  
  
Anna was intoxicated with the scent of his masculine shampoo. His hair, which had been recently washed was fluffy and soft- just waiting to be caressed with her hands.  
  
Carter bent down and kissed the base of her neck, running a line of caresses from there, up her neck, along her jawline. Anna moaned with pleasure and longing, she ran her fingers from his shoulders, down his back and under his top, feeling his muscular build. Finally he reached her lips, both of them caressed each other with as much urgency as the night before.   
  
Anna's towel slipped from around her, and she pressed her naked body closer to Carter's, waiting for the feel of his skin upon hers.  
  
Carter murmured in her ear, "Maybe we should relocate...bedroom?"  
  
"Hmm...mine or yours?" Anna gasped through their passionate kisses.  
  
"Yours...I want to finish where we left off," Carter replied picking her off her feet.  
  
"I never knew you worked out so much," Anna murmered in his ear, feeling the upper part of his torso through the silk cotton.  
  
He was just about to reply when he heard a key in the lock, "Oh no..."  
  
"Dave..." Anna scowled.  
  
"Shi-" Carter said, heading for the nearest door.  
  
"Towel first, then move!" Anna gasped, swiping the towel from the chair it landed on and then covering herself.  
  
Carter carried her into Anna's room and slammed the door shut just as Dave burst into the lounge, unharmoniously singing some song by Limp Bizkit.  
  
Anna and Carter landed on her bed, "OK," Anna continued as she got up ducked behind a Japanese silk painted screen, and pulled on some clean underpants and a neglige. "I'll stick my head around the door and tell Dave you're out, at your grandparents..."  
  
"Good idea," Carter replied, realising just how beautiful she was when she appeared from behind the screen.  
  
"I won't be long," Anna said with a smile as she opened the door a crack.  
  
  
Te amo mucho mi amor  
You are the one I adore  
  
********************************  
  
Dave stopped singing. *Hmm* he thought *I could swear I heard someone in here*. Sure enough the lights were on and in the bathroom the mirror was all steamed up from someone's shower.  
  
"Carter?" Dave called. No reply. Anna and he had got off around the same time, mused Dave, he smiled as he imagined what they were up to.  
  
Suddenly he heard a door open, Anna's head poked around it.  
  
"Dr. Del Amico," Dave said, glad that he wasn't going to stumbled in on them again.  
  
"Can you keep the noise down?" She asked politely, her head, the only part of her outside the room, "I'm studying, thanks."  
  
"Sure thing, my friend!" Dave said, suspiciously, "Where...you don't happen to know where Carter is do you?"  
  
Anna pulled a straight face, she could feel Carter behind her, pulling the strap of her top down, running his hand under the pink satin, and up to her chest. She blinked her eyes, not disliking the sensation of his touch and the feel of his breath coming quickly on her neck. She was sure that her face was flushed as she gasped to answer the simple question, "I think that he...oh...", she moaned as he caressed her body, she kicked his shin to keep him away, temporarily.  
  
Dave smiled, "What's the matter?"  
  
Anna panicked, "I...umm...forgot one of my text books in the lounge...anyway, Carter said that he was going to see his grandma, he said not to wait up for him."  
  
"Just curious," Dave smiled, "goodnight fair doctor."  
  
"You too Dr. Malucci," Anna said quickly as she shut the door, turned to Carter and waved a finger at him. "Do that again and you're a dead man, Dr. Carter!"  
  
"Oh, so you don't want me to do this?" Carter asked as he picked up Anna and placed on the bed, smothering her body with his.  
  
"No, not at all," Anna murmered as she melted in his embrace.  
  
  
Je t'aime beaucoup mon amour  
You are the one I adore  
  
*************************  
  
3 months later  
  
Anna looked at her diary, examining it thoroughly before reaching a conclusion. Suddenly Chuni burst into the lounge.  
  
"Hey, Anna!" Chuni greeted her friend, "You look pretty pleased with yourself!"  
  
Anna smiled, feeling full of life and contentment, "Hmm," she murmured, shutting her diary.  
  
Chuni smiled, bearing her teeth and talking through her them, as she often did when she wanted to extract the truth from someone, "What's up?"  
  
Anna sighed happily and leant forward a Chuni sat opposite her, "We're going to have a baby!"  
  
Chuni whistled, "Carter, eh?"  
  
"Who else?" Anna smiled as Chuni gave her a congratulary hug.  
  
"Congratulations, Anna. It's great to see you two together!" Chuni smiled, "So, have you told him."  
  
"I'm waiting for a blood test first," Anna said.  
  
"Do you want me to do that for you?" Chuni asked, squeezing her hand.  
  
"If you have the time," Anna said with a thankful smile. She didn't really want to try and stick herself.  
  
"I always have the time for my best friend who's having a baby!" Chuni exclaimed as the pulled Anna off the sofa.  
  
"Exam 1 should be free."  
  
"Anna, what size are you?"  
  
"Six, why?" Anna asked suspiciously.  
  
Chuni sighed, "No reason, people as thin as you don't show as easily, you lucky thing!"  
  
***********************************  
  
Carter smiled as he saw Anna across the ER a week later, she looked so happy. He was happy to, for the first time in a long time. She gave him a secret smile as she went into the lounge for her break.  
  
"Alright, give her five minutes," Carter said, leaning over to where Yosh was waiting, "and get Chuni to tell her I'm in the SICU."  
  
Yosh nodded, wandering off to find Chuni.  
  
***********************************  
  
Anna sauntered into the lounge, a huge smile plastered over her face. Dreamily she placed the portable defribbilator on the coffee table, "Hey Haleh, Conni, have you seen Carter, I need to tell him something."  
  
Chuni wandered in through the other door a second later, "Carter says he's up with a patient in the SICU, but he'll be down for his break in a few minutes."  
  
Haleh smiled at her, "You look positively glowing, honey!"  
  
"Well I should," Anna said with a grin, "I'm pregnant!"  
  
Connie and Haleh gasped and threw their arms around the the paediatrician, "Congratulations!"  
  
Chuni smiled knowingly, "Haleh, didn't you want to ask Anna about the dress?"  
  
The charge nurse smiled, "Oh, yes, Anna are you a size 6?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"I need you to try this on. I have a niece, your size who is getting married, and I need to adjust the hem, could you try it on."  
  
Anna smiled. "Sure, Haleh!"  
  
Haleh produced the dress from her locker and within a minute it was on, Haleh admired her handiwork, "Perfect!"  
  
Anna looked at herself in the locker mirror, "Oh my, it is the most gorgeous dress!" She exclaimed as she studied to beaded, highwaisted bodice, the thin straps and the full satin skirt.  
  
"Looks like a perfect fit," Chuni said to Haleh as she pulled Anna's hair up into a fancy do and placed the veil over her head, "You have to get the full effect."  
  
"Jolie is going to be very pleased, well done Haleh!" Connie praised the nurse's creation.  
  
Anna suddenly realized that her beeper was going, "Dammit!"  
  
"What dear?" Haleh asked.  
  
"I'm on the code team and they need me in the chapel, oh no, the dress."  
  
Haleh exclaimed, "Don't worry, it won't get hurt, it'll take you ages to get out of it."  
  
Anna grabbed the defibrillator and rushed to the elevator, hardly noticing that the ER was practically deserted.  
  
*****************  
  
Mark Greene, rushed onto the elevator just as Anna got there, brushing the veil out of her eyes.  
  
"Where to?" Mark asked, pressing the floor for the chapel. He looked at Anna in the full bridal gown.  
  
"Oh, god, don't look at me!" Anna said, embarrassed, "It's a long story, Mark!"  
  
"Did I ask?" He replied as she rushed off the elevator when it stopped.  
  
Anna threw open the door to the chapel and gasped at what she saw.  
  
Carter was standing at the altar, in a smart tuxedo, the chapel was covered in flowers and everyone was there: Chuni, Haleh, Conni, Malik, Lydia, Jeanie Boulet, Dave, Jing-Mei, Anspaugh and Morgernstern, Kerry Weaver, Yosh, Elizabeth, Cleo, Benton, Carol and the twins, Luka...wait, Doug and Carol!....god even Robert 'Rocket' Romano!  
  
Anna gasped, realising how easily she had been fooled, "Hi everyone," she announced shyly, "I guess I'm the one who was going to code!"  
  
Everyone laughed, Carter spoke up from the other end of the room, "Well you'll be the first bride to walk down the aisle with a portable defibrillator!"  
  
Anna smiled, and placed the machine on the ground, Mark handed her a bouquet of mixed roses, "These'll be more useful, may I?"  
  
Tears ran from Anna's eyes as she took Mark's arm and he led her down the aisle where she was 'given way' to Carter.  
  
"Marry me?" Carter asked, drawing a ring from his pocket.  
  
"If there's the right time and the right place, it's here and now," Anna replied tossing her veil to the side and kissing Carter on the lips as he placed the ring on her finger.  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"Yes, I want to be with you forever, Dr. Carter!" Anna exclaimed.  
  
"Me too, with you and our baby."  
  
Anna smiled, "How do you know?"  
  
"Chuni isn't that good at keeping secrets!" Carter replied with a trusting and loving smile as they kissed again, to the approval of the gathered audience.  
  
"Dearly beloved...."  
  
THE END  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	3. Welcome Back Dr. Carters

Repost in honour of the completion of part four.  
  
Title: 'Welcome Back, Dr Carters'  
Series: 'Two Years On' Part Three  
Genre: JC/AD  
Rating: PG-13  
Author: Anna Rousseau annadelamico@yahoo.co.uk  
Notes: Third in the series, follows 1) Someone Old, Something New 2)I Won't Leave You Lonely  
Summary: The Carter's return to the ER. Song used 'Only When I Sleep' by The Corrs.  
  
  
  
Previously...  
  
Anna thew open the door to the chapel and gasped at what she saw.  
  
Carter was standing at the altar, in a smart tuxedo, the chapel was covered in flowers and everyone was there: Chuni, Haleh, Conni, Malik, Lydia, Jeanie Boulet, Dave, Jing-Mei, Anspaugh and Morgernstern, Kerry Weaver, Randi, Jerry, Yosh, Elizabeth, Cleo, Benton, Carol and the twins, Luka...wait, Doug and Carol!....god even Robert 'Rocket' Romano!  
  
Anna gasped, realising how easily she had been fooled, "Hi everyone," she announced shyly, "I guess I'm the one who was going to code!"  
  
Everyone laughed, Carter spoke up from the other end of the room, "Well you'll be the first bride to walk down the aisle with a portable defribbilator!"  
  
Anna smiled, and placed the machine on the ground, Mark handed her a bouquet of mixed roses, "These'll be more useful, may I?"  
  
Tears ran from Anna's eyes as she took Mark's arm and he led her down the aisle where she was 'given way' to Carter.  
  
"Marry me?" Carter asked, drawing a ring from his pocket.  
  
"If there's the right time and the right place, it's here and now," Anna replied tossing her veil to the side and kissing Carter on the lips as he placed the ring on her finger.  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"Yes, I want to be with you forever, Dr. Carter!" Anna exclaimed.  
  
"Me too, with you and our baby."  
  
Anna smiled, "How do you know?"  
  
"Chuni isn't that good at keeping secrets!" Carter replied with a trusting and loving smile as they kissed again, to the approval of the gathered audience.  
  
"Dearly beloved...."  
  
*************************************************************************************************  
  
Anna settled back into the seat of Carter's jeep, sighing contentedly. It was just a few minutes before their shift was due to start, and they had got caught up in a traffic jam.  
  
"Great!" Carter moaned, "I knew we should have taken the El."  
  
"For Heaven's sake!" Anna replied in a good mood, "Kerry can't shout at us that much, we've just got back from our honeymoon!"  
  
It was ten to six on New Year's Eve, everyone else was rushing to parties, but Carter and Anna were trying to get to their six o'clock shifts in the ER.   
  
Carter subdued slightly, as he flicked on the radio, some beautiful Rachmanioff was playing, acting as a sort of sedative for their nerves. Anna closed her eyes and thought back on the week's events.  
  
If someone had told her a year ago that she'd go back to Chicago for her friend, then marry him three months later and have a baby, she would have probably ordered a them a pysch consult. But now that didn't sound so strange.  
  
Anna had to admit that she was completely shocked by the wedding ceremony set up, but she couldn't believe how much she wanted to get married. Getting hitched was never very high on her agenda, but Anna couldn't think of a better person to spend eternity with than Carter, her friend, lover...soul mate, it sounded pretty corny, but it was true.  
  
She smiled as she remembered the scene in the Chapel, how shocked she must have looked, and how Dave had panicked when he'd thought that he'd lost the rings- only for Dr. Benton to supply them from his pocket with a patronizing glance.  
  
There had been a rather crowded and joyous reception at Doc Magoo's, not really the most romantic place, but everyone was there that they cared about. The day was finished off with a party in the lounge, which was abruptly been interupted when a pile-up was due to arrive in the ER. The newly wedded couple had tried to help with the prep work, that was until they had a call from the EMS saying that Mercy was taking in the patients. All that was left was a cheery goodbye as Anna and Carter left through the automatic doors of the ER, to a taxi waiting in the ambulance bay.  
  
Later that day they caught a plane to Boston from Chicago O'Hare airport, with only a few minutes to spare before the plane took off.  
  
And the honeymoon, well they had only been given a weekend (minus Sunday afternoon), because of staffing problems, but it was the most magical two days of her life...  
  
***************  
You're only just a dreamboat,   
Sailing in my head,  
You swim my secret oceans of coral blue and red.  
Your smell is incense burning,  
Your touch is silken yet,  
It reaches through my skin,  
Moving from within and clutches at my breast.  
But it's only when I sleep.  
  
  
"Here we are," Carter announced, pulling up to a driveway and finally to the Carter's holiday prperty in Newport, Rhode Island.  
  
"Geez, Carter," Anna said (not really used to calling him anything else), eyeing up the mansion, "are you secretly related to the Vanderbilts?"  
  
"No," he chuckled, "this is all Carter, through and through!"  
  
Anna smiled as he opened the door of the rental car for her, "You know, my favourite book in high school was The Great Gatsby. Carter, you are Jay Gatsby, but exactly opposite."  
  
"What, I gave up my life of luxury for the woman I love?" Carter replied picking up their bags.  
  
"Something like that!" Anna replied as they headed into the house.  
  
  
  
Apparently the hired help was away, and they had the house to themselves. It was already dark out and the moon was full in the sky. Anna pressed her nose against the cool plate glass of the window and watched as delicate crystals fell as flakes on the pane. Carter was across the room, kneeling by the fire place. He cursed as yet another match broke.  
  
Anna picked herself off the window seat and came up behind him, circling her arms around him as she joined him on the floor, "Trying to start a fire?" She asked lavaciously, running her cold fingers down his cheek.   
  
Carter turned and his nose rubbed against hers, cooled by the frosted glass of the window. He gasped as a shiver ran down his back, "You're suffering from near hypothermia!" Carter joked as Anna pushed him to the floor, he dropped a lit match into the fireplace and the wood began to smoulder.   
  
"Why don't you warm me up then, Dr. Carter," Anna replied in a low voice as she brushed Carter's hair off his face.  
  
Carter looked as though he was thinking, "Hmm, Dr. Del Amico...I don't think we have any warm lavage..."  
  
Anna pressed a finger to his lips, "Shut up and kiss me!"  
  
Carter smiled up at her, rolling her over so she was on the rug, he leaned closer to her, his lips hovering above hers as their breathing became more erratic.  
  
"What are you waiting for?" Anna gasped as Carter ran a finger down her face and to her neck, her back arching at his touch, "I'm getting cold."  
  
"I love you, Anna," Carter said as he pressed his lips against hers in a kiss that made them feel just as estastic as the first time they had, three months previously.  
  
Anna pulled away, "I love you too," she glanced around quickly before grinning at him. "So no one's going to turn up unexpectedly this weekend?"  
  
"No, Gamma and my parents are off at some 3 day benefit in Dallas..." Carter replied in a husky tone, cut off by a kiss, "just you and me."  
  
Anna smiled seductively back, "So we don't have to move this upstairs?"  
  
"No, I wouldn't last that long," he replied kissing her neck as she ran her fingers through his hair, "anyway, the fire is pretty nice."  
  
Anna replied through her gasps as she began to unbutton his blue shirt, "Well, we have plenty of time for the bedroom."  
  
When I wake from slumber  
Your shadow's disappeared  
Your breath is just a sea mist  
Surrounding my body.  
I'm working through the day time  
But when it's time to rest  
I'm lying in my bed  
Listening to my breath  
Falling from the edge.  
But it's only when I sleep.  
**********************  
  
  
  
A tapping startled Anna. That wasn't how she remembered her honeymoon. *Go away!* she cursed silently, she was just getting to the good part, well, more like one of the good parts. Anna prized her eyes open to find that they were parked outside the hospital and Carter was trying to wake her from her daydream.  
  
"Anna?" Carter said softly. "We're here, and we're late."  
  
Anna drew on some of her energy reserves and she opened the door pulling on her wool gloves as Carter locked up his Jeep, moving quickly as the snow fell about them.  
  
Anna studied the snow thoughtfully as they made their way to the ambulance bay, trying to finish off that daydream- but not being as successful as she had hoped.  
  
"Penny for your thoughts?" Cartre asked, drawing her close to his side.  
  
"I should think that they're worth a lot more than that!" Anna replied cheekily, "I was thinking about Friday night, what about you?"  
  
Carter grinned back, his hair already caked in large snowflakes, "I was thinking about tonight," he replied coyly.  
  
Before Anna could persue this line of thought, a wailing siren caused them both to jump out of the way of a speeding ambulance as it stopped just outside the automatic doors of the Emergency Room.  
  
"The fun never stops!" Anna sighed as she turned to Zadro and Doris who were unloading a badly wounded man.  
  
Abby Lockhart, Anna's medical student during her paediatric rotation, rushed through the automatic doors, "The Carters, back so soon?"  
  
Anna sighed a reply. "What have we got?" She asked the paramedics as she squinted through the darkness.  
  
Doris Pickman replied quickly, firstly spewing out the man's vitals, "Intubated in the field, GSW to upper abdomen, left scalp lac, possible concussion...Happy New Year."  
  
Carter felt the man's alertness before pressing his index and middle fingers to the patient's wrist, "Just lost the pulse."  
  
Anna and Carter finished removing their jackets and handed them to Randi who had come out to go to Doc Magoo's for a coffee.  
  
"I'll start compressions," Anna stated, "Give me a hand someone."  
  
Carter helped her get up onto the gurney, "Certainly, Dr. Carter."  
  
"I'll bag," Abby said as she grabbed the necessary equipment from Zadro, keeping in syncronisation with Anna's compressions.  
  
"Hey, did we miss something," Doris asked as they wheeled the gurney through the doors, "Two Dr. Carters?"  
  
"You guys got hitched?" Zadro asked as Carter grabbed the packs of saline that the patient was hooked up to.  
  
"And we're having a delightful honeymoon!" Carter replied, bringing up the rear.  
  
  
  
Dave looked up from surfing the Victoria's Secret homepage as the ER doors swung open, "Which Trauma's open?" Anna asked from her position on top of the gurney.  
  
"Trauma One's free." Malucci asked as he rushed over and caught up with them, "This the GSW?"   
  
"10 out of 10 for observation and identification," barked Kerry Weaver as she headed up the corridor.  
  
Carter pushed open the door to the trauma room, calling over to Chuni, Lily and Haleh who were taking inventory at the opposite end, "Some help please."  
  
Carter started inserting an IV whilst the others busied themselves with hemocues, blood gases, pulse ox cables and heart monitors.  
  
"Abby keep bagging," Weaver instructed, "Malucci, give Dr. Carter a hand."  
  
"With an IV?" Dave asked, puzzled.  
  
"No, help Anna off the gurney, you ignoramus!" Kerry barked, looking at him like he was the most unitelligent being she had ever had the chance of meeting in her life.  
  
"OK, OK!" Dave replied as he helped Anna hop off the patient, "This could get confusing, what shall I call you, Mrs. Carter?"  
  
"Dr. Del Amico will do Malucci," Anna said, hoping that he still wasn't trying to make her life a living hell. Knowing Malucci it was probably just another one of his oh so amusing jokes.  
  
"Want to swap those gloves for something in latex?" Carter asked Anna, wondering why Malucci had found what he just said so funny.  
  
"Please," Anna replied tossing the gloves off and donning a pair of the medical kind with a familiar snap.  
  
"Paddles!" Carter ordered, as Anna resumed compressions from on top of a stool.  
  
"50 of lidocaine," Weaver added.  
  
"90, clear."  
  
A flat line appeared on the monitor.  
  
"120, clear." Carter ordered before shocking the patient.  
  
"Thorocotomy tray," Weaver and Anna called at the same time. Malcucci powered up the sternal saw and Carter picked up a scalpel.  
  
"Haleh, you bag, Abby come round and make the incision," Carter asked, seizing the oppertunity for Abby to try something new, as he wished Benton had done when he was a medical student.  
  
After a quick string of instructions, the incision was made and Weaver sawed through the sternum, as Dave grasped the rib spreader, ready to prize apart the ribs. As he did, blood spurted out of the thoracic cavity, spraying across Carter's suit and shirt, running down to his trousers.  
  
"Aggh," he spluttered struggling to see past his blood splattered goggles, "140, clear."  
  
"Sinus tach." Lily annouced.  
  
"Haleh, call the OR, we've got a bullet penetrating the pericardial sac and the left venticle," Carter said, pressing his finger against the point from which the blood was coming from.  
  
"Let's go," Weaver said, as they unhooked cables and moved IV poles for transport.  
  
They wheeled the gurney to the elevator, where Carter, Chuni and Weaver boarded, leaving Anna and Dave behind.  
  
"The doors closed behing them with a ding, "Fun honeymoon, eh?" Chuni asked with a grin.  
  
Carter nodded, still applying pressure with his finger and trying not to let his mind slip back to what he was thinking about earlier.  
  
  
  
  
The doors to the elevator opened just as Anna pressed the button, and she boarded without hesitation, still half in her reverie. She was sure that the nurses in the PICU had noticed that she was only half there.  
  
She turned to press the button for the ER, "Hi."  
  
Anna whirled around to see Carter there, dressed in surgical blue scrubs. She gulped, "Do not wear those scrubs again, I'm warning you!"  
  
"Why?" Carter asked as he drew her to his chest.  
  
"Because," Anna replied, as she pushed him towards the wall of the elevator, "When I look at you, all I want to do is take them off."  
  
"Hmm," he replied as he kissed her on the lips, turning them around so that her back was pressed against the smooth metal of the lift, "Now you know how it is to be me every hour of the day."  
  
A mutal groan esacped their lips as the kisses became deeper, more urgent and undeniably passionate.  
  
Anna ran her fingers up his back to Carter's head, running her fingers through his hair, stroking his scrub-clad thigh with her stocking clad leg, eating up the distance between them.  
  
"Please kids!" Romano boomed as he boarded the elevator without them realising it, "The honeymoon is over and there will be not love in my elevators thank you very much."  
  
  
  
  
  
  
THE END  
  
  
annadelamico@yahoo.co.uk  
Anna Rousseau  
  
Feel free to archive this, just as long as you inform me.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	4. This Year's Love

Title: "This Year's Love"  
Author: Anna Rousseau annadelamico@yahoo.co.uk  
Series: 'Three Years On' Part Four  
Previous Stories: Someone Old, Something New; I Won't Leave You Lonely; Welcome Back Dr. Carters  
Genre: JC/AD  
Rating: PG-15  
Note: My character map isn't working so accents are missing in the foreign language parts.  
Summary: Set in series 7. Basically I wanted an Anna and Carter happy ending. So far, Anna and Carter have just returned from their honey moon. Song used "You've Got a Way" by Shania Twain, OK so I'm a sucker for C & W!  
  
PREVIOUSLY...  
  
  
  
The doors to the elevator opened just as Anna pressed the button, and she boarded without hesitation, still half in her reverie. She was sure that the nurses in the PICU had noticed that she was only half there.  
  
She turned to press the button for the ER, "Hi."  
  
Anna whirled around to see Carter there, dressed in surgical blue scrubs. She gulped, "Do not wear those scrubs again, I'm warning you!"  
  
"Why?" Carter asked as he drew her to his chest.  
  
"Because," Anna replied, as she pushed him towards the wall of the elevator, "When I look at you, all I want to do is take them off."  
  
"Hmm," he replied as he kissed her on the lips, turning them around so that her back was pressed against the smooth metal of the lift, "Now you know how it is to be me every hour of the day."  
  
A mutal groan esacped their lips as the kisses became deeper, more urgent and undeniably passionate.  
  
Anna ran her fingers up his back to Carter's head, running her fingers through his hair, stroking his scrub-clad thigh with her stocking clad leg, eating up the distance between them.  
  
"Please kids!" Romano boomed as he boarded the elevator without them realising it, "The honeymoon is over and there will be not love in my elevators thank you very much."  
  
  
*********************  
  
Anna shrank into the corner and Carter retreated to the other side of the elevator for the rest of the duration of the elevator ride. After what seemed an eternity, Romano disembarked at the second floor.  
  
"Ta ta for now, Dr. Carter, Dr. Carter," Romano said curtly.  
  
They both breathed a sigh of relief, nowing that they had both come out, unscathed by the usual torrent of crude jokes that Romano usually dished out on occassions such as this.  
  
"Phew!" Anna smiled, wiping her forehead with her hand as the doors opened on the corridor of the ER, outside curtain 3.  
  
"Phew doesn't cover it, Anna!" Carter smiled back as they both headed for admit, "Romano could've really reemed us out!"  
  
Anna sighed and whispered through gritted teeth, "We just got back from the most romantic weekend of our lives, can we help it if we are..."  
  
"Horny?" Malucci said, closing up behind them, chewing a piece of gum that seemed to be permanantly fixed inside his mouth.  
  
Anna and Carter turned around quickly, "What?"  
  
"Oh, come on!" Dave exclaimed, "You two have been acting like a couple of teenagers ever since you got back..."  
  
"That's great coming from you, Dave!" Anna chuckled as she followed him into the lounge, where Dave produced a box of donuts from the depths of the fridge.  
  
"Like I haven't heard that one before!" Dave snorted, offering the donuts to Anna and Carter.  
  
"So," Carter started, changing the conversation, "you off tonight?"  
  
"Why?" Dave asked, scoffing a donut down in one go, and proceeding to talk with his mouth full. "Wan me owt te howse?"  
  
Crumbs sprayed out from Dave's mouth, hitting Anna squarely in the face, she wiped herself quickly without comment with a paper serviette.  
  
"Thank you, Dave!" Anna replied, half laughing.  
  
"Sorry!" Dave replied, brushing some crumbs off the lapel of her lab coat. "I'll see you guys later, then...party at the Jazz Note, 11 o clock...be there, or be square!"  
  
"Thanks for the offer, but we're on till 6," Carter replied as Dave pulled his leather jacket from the contents of his locker.  
  
"Happy New Year!" Dave chuckled as he pushed his way out of the door making unnessecary body contact with a pretty Physician's Assistant who was entering the lounge.  
  
Anna sipped a large cup of coffee, willing herself to keep alert. She was nearly falling asleep on her feet when a familiar sound of a crutch echoed against the floor.  
  
"Evening all!" Weaver chirped as she lent in front of Anna for a packet of sugar. "Business is slow, I take it!"  
  
"Hmm," Anna replied, gulping down the remainders of the caffeine rich drink.  
  
Weaver turned and addressed both of the doctors, "You know the trauma conference that's coming up?"  
  
"Yeah?" Carter replied refilling his mug with coffee, "Anna's presenting the paediatric lidocaine toxicity study, right?"  
  
Anna grunted in the affirmative, thinking back to all the carefully prepared slides and overhead projector sheets Malucci had managed to spill Super Noodles on a couple of weeks previously.  
  
"Well, I can't go to represent County, family obligation," Weaver explained, sure that Carter would be puzzled by her cop-out, since he knew that she only had friends in Africa and that was about it. "So, Carter, as Chief Resident, I'd like you to go instead."  
  
Carter was pleasantly surprised, not only did his new position give him more authority, but he also got all expenses paid trips with his wife.  
  
"Here are the tickets," Weaver continued, pulling two envelopes from her lab coat pocket, "Bon Voyage, dospedanga, ciao, etcetera."  
  
Anna opened the envelope and examined the set of airline tickets, she gasped.  
  
"Dr. Weaver, these tickets are for a return flight to Hawaii," Anna exclaimed, showing Carter, who spluttered on the coffee he was drinking.  
  
"I...I thought it was in Seattle!" Carter said, his eyes wide: it wasn't every day that your job paid you to spend five days in a eutopian location with the person you were madly in love with.  
  
"Well, they relocated," Weaver smiled, grabbing a donut out of Malucci's stash behind some bottles of milk in the ancient refridgerator.  
  
"Thank you, Dr. Weaver," Anna gushed, still staring at the ticket- willing it to be true.  
  
Weaver smiled as she bit into the chocolate covered pastry," Don't thank me, thank Aunt Maude."  
  
The Carters stood there gazing at each other as Kerry Weaver left the room, an pleased grin plastered across her face.  
  
***********  
  
  
"Hey there Dr. Carter!" Chuni grinned tossing him a pair of surgical gloves as he departed from the lounge, "EMS is bringing in a 29 year old pregnant woman in labour, we may have to birth in trauma."  
  
He glanced at his watch, "Well, if she's lucky maybe we'll get the first birth of the new millennium in Chicago."  
  
Chuni gave him a quick glance as they headed towards the ambulance bay, the sort of look that made him feel like he was going senile but no one was telling him, "Carter, I hate to tell you this, but it is going to be 2001."  
  
"Ah, but technically, at the moment it's still the 20th century," Carter started grinning at her as they were joined by Lily and Anna.  
  
"True," Lily said as she brushed the snow off her hair, "I think we had this conversation last year!"  
  
"Oh yeah, we were at admin. I was complaining about how much I was spending on New Year's plans," Chuni commented as a fire engine went past on the way to an emergency.  
  
Anna laughed, "I'd hate to ruin all your speculation, but actually, the millennium celebrates two thousand years since Christ was born, right?"  
  
"Yeah," Chuni exclaimed, "so actually..."  
  
"The millennium was at Christmas," Anna concluded.  
  
Lily smiled, "How come you know this and the rest of the world ignores it."  
  
Anna grinned, "The rest of the world didn't get educated at a Catholic school."  
  
By this time the ambulance had pulled up outside the hospital and the paramedics began to remove the patient on a gurney.  
  
"Greetings, yet again," Zadro announced as he and Doris pulled the gurney out of the cold and into the hospital.  
  
"What'cha got?" Anna asked as she directed them towards Trauma One.  
  
"Female, caucasian, 29, 9th month of pregnancy, contractions started two hours ago, she started to have problems breathing so we put on her on oxygen mask, BP's normal," Doris listed checking facts off on her fingers.  
  
The trauma room was prepped when they arrived, "On my count," Carter requested as they all grabbed the back board, "One, two, three."  
  
"Hi," Anna said as she looked over the woman, "I'm Anna Del Amico and this is Dr. Carter, we're going to be your physicians, do you mind telling me your name."  
  
She was a delicate woman with high cheekbones and mahogony hair, "Leonarde, Coralie Leonarde. My husband, he was at a, uh, business conference and, can you ring him, he wants to be here," the woman spoke with a thick French accent, talking above the various orders that were being asked for in the trauma room.  
  
"Bien sur," Anna said as she poised her pen, ready for a number, "Qu'est-ce que c'est la numero de telephone, s'il vous plait?"  
  
"Trente neuf, quarante et un, seize, quatre vingt dix neuf, onze."  
  
"39 41 60 99 11," Anna said scribbling the number down whilst Coralie grimaced and let out a little yelp, "Aie, aie, aie!"  
  
"Another contraction?" Carter asked as he checked the monitors.  
  
"Oui, oui." Coralie clarified, glad at the assistance with the language barrier, "Mon mari, il s'appelle Jean-Michel."  
  
"Chuni, can you get that sorted?" Anna asked as they revolved the gurney. "Maintenant, Madame Leonarde, je vais faire un examen.  
  
She nodded as Anna put on a pair of sterile gloves and Carter started an IV. As she proceeded to do the examination, Anna's eyes grew wide.  
  
"What is it?" Carter asked, as he finished arranging a tray of instruments.  
  
Anna looked up, "She's fully dialated. We'll have to birth here."  
  
Within minutes, the two doctors had prepared the room for the delivery, performed an ultrasound and had paged the obstetrics fellow.  
  
Carter held the mother's hand as the labour started, Anna gave her calm commands so the birth of the baby would be carried out without complications.  
  
"Madame, encore...oui....encore....Chuni, you ready," she watched as the baby appeared. "Encore une fois..."  
  
Mme. Leonarde pushed a final time and the sound of a newborn baby crying filled the air.   
  
Chuni covered the baby with a sterile sheet and gave it to Anna who in turn cut the cord and passed the newborn to the new mother, "Mme. Leonarde, voici votre nouvelle fille."  
  
Joy passed over the woman's fatigued face as her child smiled up at her, "Merci...ooh, elle est belle!"  
  
Anna smiled back, "Elle est tres mignon, bravo!"  
  
A voice broke Anna's thoughts, "Dr. Del Amico? Mr. Leonarde is here." Haleh brought in an attractive European man in a smart Italian suit. Anna and Carter looked on as the couple exchanged kisses and spoke quickly in French.  
  
Carter lent over to Anna and whispered in her ear, "I didn't know you could speak French."  
  
Anna gave him a sly look, "I can do a lot of stuff you don't know about."  
  
Carter felt his face flush at her suggestion, "Like what?"  
  
"Oh," she breathed as she absentmindedly filled in some charts, "meet me later and I'll show you."  
  
Carter nodded as he watched Chuni and Haleh eyeing them suspiciously. Anna diverted the attention to the new baby, she was beaming at the very thought of giving birth to their child.  
  
Anna smiled at the couple as she played with the baby's tiny fingers, "Comment elle s'appelle?"  
  
The Leonardes looked very pleased as cuddled their baby girl, "Juliette Marie Leonarde."  
  
She couldn't help smile as her hand briefly brushed the barely noticable bump beneath her skirt.  
  
*********  
  
"Hey, Anna!" Dave exclaimed as she pushed her way into the lounge, noting that there were only five or so minutes of the year 2000 left. "Heard you just delivered."  
  
"Not personally," Anna smiled, in great spirits after the experience. "Mother and daughter are well, up in OB at the moment."  
  
"We decided to move the party to the ER, drop by admit if you want - I think Weaver's gonna let us crack out some alcohol." Dave grinned as he pulled off his scrub top just as Deb walked through the door.  
  
Anna gave him a look, "I don't know what they teach in Grenada medical school, but usually the medical profession doesn't really promote drinking during pregnancy." She checked her reflection in her locker mirror whilst she applied some delicate eyeshadow and a cherry coloured lipstick only a few could carry off.  
  
Dave smirked as he flexed his muscles for the benefit of the Chinese-American doctor who just rolled her eyes, sharing a glance with the blonde resident, "Oh, I forgot, you've got a bun in the oven."  
  
"You blow me away with your medical terminology, Dave!" Anna commented, brushing her hair and pulling it up into a stylish twisted bun.  
  
"You should hear him explain the facts of life," Deb snorted as she tucked her lab coat away.  
  
Dave grinned, "My pleasure, but I think you already know."  
  
"Really?" She replied, a touch of sarcastic astonishment in her voice.  
  
Deb tapped Anna on the shoulder, "I forgot to tell you earlier, but Carter told me to tell you that he's in the suture room doing Q and A if you need him."  
  
Anna's eyes glinted, "Great, I need to tell him something."  
  
Dave snorted, "Don't do anything I wouldn't do!"  
  
********  
You've got a way with me  
Somehow you got me to believe  
In ev'rything that I could be  
I've gotta say you've got a way  
  
You've got a way it seems  
You gave me faith to find my dreams  
You'll never know just what that means  
Can't you see you got a way with me?  
  
It's in the way you want me  
It's in the way you hold me  
The way you show me just what love's made of  
It's in the way we make love  
*********  
  
Carter closed the door behind him and dumped his stack of charts onto one of the gurney's before sitting down in a straight backed armless chair and mulling thoughts over in his head.  
  
Another year. He remembered the celebrations twelve months ago. He saw Lucy explaining to him about her heart transplant patient, how distraught she was that she couldn't help her. Carter recalled how he had suggested that she should only order the L-VAD if she really wanted to be decapitated by Benton. They had reminised about the boy he had saved the year before, and how much everything had changed since then. Then, Chuni had caught them under some mistletoe and they had given each other a hug.  
  
He hadn't really loved Lucy, sure he cared for her, and that few minutes of passion in Exam 6 was a product of their mixed feelings. It was totally different to what he felt for Anna. They were soul mates, made for each other. She was understanding, not pitying - and she had come at the time he had needed her the most.   
  
He frowned, the last week or so he hadn't really thought about the accident. He didn't know if this was a good thing or not. All he knew was he was so content at the moment and Carter knew that he loved Anna, and that if she was with him then he had nothing to complain about. They completed each other.  
  
A squeak was emitted by the door, which Carter had his back to, he heard a set of distinctive footsteps, the lock turned in one door, then another before the noise of blinds quickened his pulse.  
  
*****  
Oh how I adore you   
Like no-one before you  
I love you just the way you are  
*****  
  
Anna twisted the blinds shut after she locked both of the doors that entered the Suture Room. Her eyes fixed on the back of Carter's head, his chestnut hair highlighted by one single angle poise mounted on the wall.  
  
With the stealth of a panther she crept forward and placed her hands over his face, her fingers instructing him to close his eyes as she bent over and blew softly on his neck before her full lips settled on his skin, hypnotising him with their gentle kisses.  
  
*****  
You've got a way with words  
You get smiling even when it hurts  
There's no way to measure what your love is worth  
I can't believe the way you get through to me  
  
It's in the way you want me  
It's in the way you hold me  
The way you show me just what love's made of  
It's in the way we make love  
*****  
  
Carter smiled as he felt her move away from him, then saw her in his mind's eye approach him from in front as her finger traced a line from his neck up to his jaw.  
  
The next sensation was the pressure of her thighs as she sat on his lap, one leg either side of his, her hands moved to his tie as she used it to pull him forward, her lips pressed themselves against his as they consumed each other with fervent passion. Carter drew his arms around her waist, pulling his wife closer to his chest. She responded by jerking his head down further by his tie and wrapping one hand around his neck, her fingers burying themselves in Carter's fluffy hair.  
  
As they finally drew apart, Carter opened his eyes. Anna looked at him with an intense, adoring gaze, her eyes sparkling like pools of crystal blue water. She looked over his shoulder, "Happy New Year."  
  
He smiled at her, his brown eyes glinting in the light, "You too. The first complete year together."  
  
Anna pulled at his tie, flinging it onto the gurney beside them, "The first of many more. Come on, I want to show you how pedeatritians celebrate new year's with very gorgeous emergency medicine chief residents."  
  
Carter raised his eyebrows as she reached up and swung a curtain around them, enclosing them in a treatment area, "Here, in the Suture Room?" However, he wasn't totally against the idea.  
  
Anna grinned as she pulled off his lab coat and tossed it over an IV pole, before working on her own, "It'll give people something to talk about other than that woman in radiology and Dale Edson."  
  
"I'm always up for showing up Dale," Carter replied as he slid his hands underneath Anna's skirt and rested them on her thighs as she kissed her way down his chest as she pulled at his surgical blue scrub top, shivering at the caresses he was covering her neck with.  
  
Carter fumbled with her blouse, undoing the buttons and listening to her moans as he planted kisses on her sternum, covering every inch of skin as she shed her blouse to the ground, shaking her golden hair free as his hand undid the clip.  
  
Anna's hand searched for the lamp, grasping it while the other brought Carter's head down to hers, the light extinguished as she pressed the button in ecstacy as her husband's hands moved to her chest.  
  
*****  
It's just the way you are...  
*****  
  
TO BE CONTINUED  
  
  
Yes, this is for all you who moan that they always get interupted.  
Hope you liked.  
Please archive, just tell me where at annadelamico@yahoo.co.uk  
Feedback welcomed.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	5. Hopelessly Addicted

Title: "Hopelessly Addicted"   
Series: 'Two Years On - Part V'  
Author: Anna Rousseau annadelamico@yahoo.co.uk  
Genre: JC/AD Romance/Drama  
Rating: PG-15  
Previous Parts: 'Someone Old, Something New'; 'I Won't Leave You Lonely'; 'Welcome Back, Dr Carters'; 'This Year's Love'  
Summary: Basically a happy ever after story for Carter and Anna set in series 7. Story so far: they got married, Anna's about 2 months pregnant and Dr. Weaver is sending them to Haiwaii for a trauma conference. We continue on an angst free plot - or is this too good to be true?  
Notes: Song used is 'Hopelessly Addicted' by the Corrs, make of it what you will. I'm not sure what Carter's sister's name is...but lots of other fics had her down as Barbara- sorry if I plagarised in that sense, it is unintentional!  
  
  
"TWO YEARS ON V - HOPELESSLY ADDICTED"  
======================================  
  
Dave Malucci sat at admit with a grin plastered across his face that could only be described as stupid. He was staring at something on the other side of the room with an obsessive intensity.  
  
"What's wrong with Dave?" Anna asked as she and Carter approached the desk and scrutinised the state of the ER. Very loud rock music was echoing through the corridors and the surface that was usually cluttered by stacks of T-Sheets was adorned with chips, dips, pizza and pastries not to mention a few bottles of beer.  
  
Chuni waved a hand in front of the younger resident, but he kept focus on his object of desire, "Dr. Chen gave him a kiss at midnight and he's acting as if they're gonna get hitched."  
  
Anna rolled her eyes and looked over the board, "Why's it so slow? I was expecting half of Chicago to be in here vomiting all over the place!"  
  
"Well I'm enjoying the calm before the storm," Dave said, finally moving to open a bottle of Budweiser. "Where have you two been anyway?"  
  
"In the suture room," Carter replied.  
  
"Doing Q and A," Anna added quickly, her face flushing at the question.  
  
Dave grunted, "Right. I'd do Q and A if it meant getting some serious necking." He pointed to Carter's neck which was coated with smeared red marks.  
  
Carter placed a hand over his neck and stuttered, "I-uh, I'm going to...left some charts, I'll be back."   
  
Anna watched as he rushed down the corridor to the Men's Room before she turned back to her collegues, both of them were facing her with innocent smiles on their faces, "What?"  
  
Chuni grinned and whispered so only the three of them could hear her, "So did you and Carter-"  
  
"What?" Anna exclaimed as she bent her neck to hide her red cheeks, "In the suture room, please!"  
  
Dave sighed, "So you're just as boring as I thought you were."  
  
Anna pushed past him and headed towards the lounge for coffee, "I see what you're doing, Dave, and it isn't going to work."  
  
"Worth a try!"  
  
************  
  
Elizabeth Corday moaned loudly as she collapsed onto the worn sofa, closing her eyes with every intention of falling asleep right there in the lounge. She was startled by the sound of a door opening across the room. Elizabeth forced one eyelid open and a slight smile played on her exhausted face.  
  
"Anna?" She inquired as she identified the cascade of golden hair that concealed the resident's face. Anna closed the door of the freezer compartment, placing some ice cubes in a plastic bag.  
  
"Hey, Elizabeth," Anna replied sinking into the sofa next to the surgeon and placing the bag of ice on her forehead. "You look wasted!"  
  
"Why thank you," Elizabeth said as she gave a weak smile. "We both work long shifts, you glow, but I look knackered. Maybe I should consider getting pregnant."  
  
Anna laughed, "Believe me, it comes at a price. You wouldn't believe the morning sickness I've been having."  
  
The British doctor lent forwards and drank down the last drops of her milky tea, "So, how are you?"  
  
Anna rolled her head from side to side, pressing the ice against her cheeks, "To tell you the truth - fantastic. Really, it's too good to be true!"  
  
"Don't say that you'll jinx it!" Corday replied as she felt her spirts lifting by the presence of the first friend she had made in the US.  
  
She laughed, "Carter, John...he's just brilliant...oh Elizabeth, I really do love him. I'm so in love with him I just can't think about anything else." Anna stopped and smiled, "I must sound-"  
  
"Like an incredibly lucky woman," Corday finished.  
  
"I was thinking 'adolesent'," Anna admitted as she placed the ice bag on the table.  
  
"Don't be silly," Elizabeth replied as she placed a hand around Anna's shoulders, "I am so happy for you, happy for you and Carter. It couldn't have happened to two nicer people."  
  
"Thank you."  
  
"That's my blessing done and dusted, now time for gossip," the red-head said excitedly as she leant over and nudged Anna. "So?"  
  
Anna looked at her bemusedly, "So..."  
  
Elizabeth grinned at her, "You know what I mean!"  
  
"Oh that!" Anna replied, putting the bag of ice down whilst she pushed back a stray strand of golden hair.   
  
"Come on, Anna...I've heard Carter-"  
  
Anna grinned as she thought back to her honeymoon. She turned to her friend and confessed something in a low tone, "The sex is incredible."  
  
Elizabeth leant back in the couch and smiled back, "Tell me more!"  
  
*************  
  
Dave ambled along the corridor still phased by the kiss Jing-Mei had given him earlier, it was to be expected really, the woman could *really* kiss. Sighing at the thought still fresh in his mind her pushed open the door and was startled to hear Elizabeth Corday.  
  
"You did it in the Suture Room?"  
  
***********  
  
Anna blushed at Elizabeth's exclamation.  
  
"Excuse me," she heard Dave say from the doorway. "I guess I shouldn't have presumed you and Carter were boring...but the *suture room*...geez."  
  
The blonde resident raised a finger at him, "You tell anyone Malucci and you are dead."  
  
"Don't worry," Dave replied as he grabbed his coat from a chair. "I'm sure everyone heard Dr. Corday the first time."  
  
The women laughed as Dave left the lounge, muttering to himself with raised eyebrows.  
  
*********  
  
"John!"  
  
The enormous front door of the Carter's mansion opened to reveal Millicent Carter, dressed in some expensive fashion bought on a recent trip to Europe.  
  
"Hi, Gamma," Carter replied as he stepped into the hallway, which was festively decked out for the New Year.  
  
Anna slipped in behind him, "Hello Mrs. Carter."   
  
Millicent gave her a strange look, "Oh please, you're making me feel really old, Anna!" The older lady pulled her granddaughter-in-law in for a peck on the cheek.  
  
Anna blushed and held out a box, "We just wanted to say thank you for our honeymoon, it's not much but we just wanted to show you how much we enjoyed it."  
  
She glanced at Carter as his grandmother led them to one of the reception rooms and delicately sat on one of the luxurious sofas. Millicent carefully opened the box and let out a chuckle.  
  
"Thank God it isn't one of those beef jerky makers!" Carter smiled as she held up the blown glass bowl to the liht. "Very beautiful, thank you dear."  
  
Carter leant on the mantle piece, "Anna chose it."  
  
"We got lost on Saturday and we stumbled across this couple who made really great ornaments- well, we couldn't resist it!"  
  
"You sure you can afford that on a resident's salary?" Came a joking voice from across the room.  
  
"Barbara!" Carter exlaimed as his sister rushed across to where he was standing. They embraced briefly and exchanged a few brotherly and sisterly remarks.  
  
Barbara came over to Anna and gave her a kiss on the cheek, "How are you?"  
  
"Fine!" Anna smiled at Carter's sister who had the same thick, gold-tinted hair and mahogany eyes as well as the Carter family's captivating smile.  
  
"Well, John. You did very well for yourself," Barbara said over her shoulder. She grinned at Anna evilly, "But I cannot see what you saw in my idiot excuse for a brother! I mean, he doesn't invite me to your wedding-"  
  
"Barb! I did invite you, and Gamma, but you were both too busy-"  
  
She held up a hand, "Kidding! I was in Europe, I'm sorry! So here's your gift-" Barbara handed Anna an envelope, "I haven't got the best taste in the world, so I'm gonna leave you two to pick out the crockery. Is that OK?"  
  
"Perfect!" Anna rolled her eyes, "I mean the amount of dishes Dave manages to break!"  
  
Barbara blinked, "Who's Dave?"  
  
"Room-mate, ER doc, long story, I'll tell you later," Carter grinned at Anna.  
  
"He's your general High School jock who never grew up," Anna explained as she awkwardly accepted a glass of champagne from the butler.  
  
"So," Millicent said as she got up from where she was sitting. "You kids've got half an hour to play before the meal's served."  
  
Barbara jumped up, "I have to make some calls, so I'll see you at lunch. John, why don't you give Anna a tour of the house?"  
  
Carter looked at Anna, "Sound interesting?"  
  
"Only if I get to see your room," Anna replied as he led her up the stairs.  
  
********  
  
  
"What are you laughing at?" Carter exlaimed as Anna leafed through a photograph album she had snatched off the bookcase.  
  
She collapsed on a chaise lounge near the foot of his gigantic bed, "A mullet?"  
  
"It was the eighties Anna," as if that explained it all. He sat next to her. "I'm sure you had a perm then."  
  
She laughed, "Yeah, one of those one's that made me look like a poodle...but mullets, ugh!"  
  
Carter looked into her eyes, "When do we tell them about the baby?"  
  
"Today? Nah- bit to early probably," Anna replied as she patted her stomach which was was a hint larger than it used to be, but not noticable yet.  
  
"Anna, I want to ask you a question."  
  
"Yes," she replied seriously, snapping the album shut.  
  
"Would you love me if I had a mullet?"  
  
Anna's mouth twisted into a grin, "I'd love you, but I would hypnotise you and get it cut off."   
  
She ruffled his hair and laughed to herself, "What's so funny now?"  
  
Anna sighed as she leant across his chest, Cartar's arm draping across her shoulders, "I was imagining look on your grand-mother's face if she hear what we did in her holiday home."  
  
Carter smiled as he played with her hair which was twisted in a chignon, a few tenrils hanging loose to frame her face, "In front of the fireplace?"  
  
"On the bed..."  
  
"In the hot-tub..."  
  
"In the shower..."  
  
Carter grinned, "The shower...not to mention the sauna."  
  
Anna laughed softly, "Whoa, we were pretty hot then. I'm not even gonna mention the kitchen."  
  
Carter drew her chin up with his fingers, "Why not?"  
  
"OK, the kitchen," Anna continued as she trailed her fingers down his neck.  
  
Carter kissed her neck softly, "The dining room..."  
  
"We got around," Anna said widening her eyes.  
  
"I think, Gamma would have a fit!"  
  
She disentangled herself and knelt on the bed, "Hmm, bouncy..." She drew in a breath as she felt Carter kiss his way across the back of her neck. She tilted her head back and gave him a seductive look, "What'cha say we give her a coronary?"  
  
"You *are* evil," Carter smiled at Anna as she pulled him over, somehow pinning him to the bed. "But only you would make homocide sound innocent."  
  
"What if someone comes in?"  
  
They shared a slow kiss before either spoke again, "I don't think they'd be too scandalised, after all - we are married."  
  
******  
  
  
Maggie Doyle groaned as she heard giggles come from the seats behind her. This was getting just too annoying, the last thing she needed was some bubbly hetro couple fawning over each other. She dropped the latest edition of 'Guns & Gals' on to the fold away table top in front of her. She turned in her seat and prepared to shout at someone for disturbing her reading.  
  
"Carter?" Maggie exclaimed. "Anna?"  
  
"Hey, Maggie!" The gorgeous blonde replied, her hand in some sort of permanent lock with the their mutual friend.  
  
"Carter and Anna, together- too much free alchohol Maggie!" She said shaking her head. "Uh, so Anna how are you."  
  
Anna beamed back at her former co-worker, "Pregnant."  
  
"Geez, Carter, you do work fast!" She glanced at their entwined hands, "I see you did the decent thing and married her."  
  
"I am capable of being a gentleman," Carter replied.  
  
Maggie looked over Anna who was even more beautiful than she remembered, "Typical, how come all the great women are already taken."  
  
Carter narrowed his eyes, "Hey, you can't look at her, Maggie, she's my wife."  
  
"I didn't know the Thought Police had recruited you Carter," Maggie retorted as she passed Anna a booklet.  
  
"Mercy sent you to the conference then?" Carter asked Maggie.  
  
"Yeah, don't look so surprised," she replied fiddling with her hair clip. "I am Chief Resident."  
  
"I heard, congratulations."  
  
"To you too," Maggie replied. She lowered her tone, "How are you, John? I-uh...heard from Kerry about-"  
  
"Atlanta?" Carter guessed. He was silent for a moment.  
  
Maggie wondered if she had said something terribly tactless and tore her eyes away from the young man, diverting her attention to Anna.  
  
Del Amico's face was drained of colour and her eyes were fixed on part of the the conference's schedule. Her hands looked clammy and they were beginning to tremble. Suddenly she dropped the booklet and rubbed her neck.  
  
"Excuse me," Anna said quietly, as she got up and headed down the aisle.  
  
  
TO BE CONTINUED  
  
  
  
Feedback appreciated, reply via a.t.e.c  
or to my e-mail  
  
annadelamico@yahoo.co.uk  
www.neoxer.com/fic/Anna.html  
www.fanfiction.net author ID: Anna Rousseau  
  
  



	6. Clouds In My Coffee

Title: "Clouds in My Coffee"  
Author: Anna Rousseau annadelamico@yahoo.co.uk  
Series: 'Two Years On - Part VI'  
Genre: JC/AD   
Rating: PG-13  
Previous Parts: 'Someone Old, Something New'; 'I Won't Leave You Lonely'; 'Welcome Back, Dr Carters'; 'This Year's Love'; 'Hopelessly Addicted'  
Song Used: 'Can't Fight the Moonlight' by LeAnn Rimes (Theme to 'Coyote Ugly'- in honour of Maria Bello)  
Summary: A little short part for the few people who are getting restless. So Anna's come back, Carter gets hitched to her and they're having a baby...everything's just peachy, ain't it!   
  
  
  
"CLOUDS IN MY COFFEE"  
=====================  
  
  
"Anna?"   
  
Carter tapped on the door, then stepped back as it swung towards him. Anna's head turned towards him, her face was as pale as a sheet.  
  
"Anna, are you OK?" Carter asked, wrapping an arm around her waist.  
  
She smiled meekly, "Yeah." She took a slow breath before she continued. "Just morning sickness, I guess."  
  
"Are you OK, ma'am?" Asked a air hostess with trademark peroxide blond hair.  
  
Carter replied dismissively, "She's pregnant, morning sickness."  
  
"I really wish people wouldn't fuss so much," Anna smiled tenatively. "I'm pregnant, you know, not totally incompetent at looking after myself."  
  
The air hostess pursed her Marylin-red lips together, "Sorry, ma'am."  
  
Carter watched as she rushed off to serve drinks to a man in a pin-stripe business suit, "Do you need anything to help with the nausea?"  
  
Anna wagged her finger at him in a mock threat, "Leave me a lone for a second and go sit down. Maggie'll wonder where you got too."  
  
"But-"  
  
"No but's, I'm a doctor too you know, go on." Anna pushed him away with her index finger, "And compare lurid fantasies about me with Maggie's!"  
  
She heard Carter let out a faint chuckle as she shut the melomine door. Turning toward the mirror she inspected her face which was now flushed red, with the slightest green tinge.  
  
"Oh God."  
  
  
*******  
  
The rest of the trip to the hotel passed in a out of control daze for Anna. Every so often in the taxi, Carter put his hand to her head and offered a few words of advice, which she immediately refused and accused him of coddling her. Under control, don't worry...honestly. Her words repeated themselves at carefully timed intervals, as if Carter wasn't the only person she was trying to convince.  
  
"We're here, Anna."  
  
She woke suddenly with a start, not even realising that the last two hours had been slept away, slumped between Maggie and Carter.  
  
"I'm up, I'm up!" Anna moaned, her head as heavy as lead, feeling as if she was inbetween Kerry's double shifts at the hospital.  
  
She waved Carter's supporting arm away as she carefully placed a pair of dark rectangular glasses on her nose.   
  
"God, it's bright!" As if by cue, Maggie shielded her eyes from the sun. "Come on, the sooner we get inside, the sooner I can get the beach and look at that sea."  
  
A smile played on Anna's lips, "No other motives, Maggie."  
  
"Nah," the curly haired resident said with the wave of a hand as their shoes tapped against the marble foyer floor of the hotel.  
  
Anna walked over to the reception desk and smiled at the pretty brunette, "Hi, we have reservations- a room for two under the name Carter."  
  
"County General, Chicago?"  
  
"Right, and a room for one?" She turned and checked with Maggie whose smile was directed straight at the receptionist.  
  
"Yeah, under Doyle - Mercy, Chicago," Maggie confirmed.  
  
"So, that's 535 for Dr Doyle and you have the honeymoon suite, 536." The keys appeared on the desk along with a programme of events.  
  
"Thanks," Anna turned around looking for Carter and was shocked to see who he was speaking with.  
  
"Anna Del Amico?"  
  
Anna pushed her sun glasses up onto her head, "Dr. Keaton, what a suprise! How are you?"  
  
"Fine, fine." The surgeon smiled back at Anna, "I was just telling John how we all miss you at CHOP."  
  
"Anyone else here from Philly?" A tone of dread crept into Anna's voice.  
  
Abby sighed, "Unfortunatly it looks like I'm the only one who'll make it, I'm afraid."  
  
"Oh," a wave of relief passed over Anna's face.  
  
"So, are you and Dr. Carter working together at County?" Abby asked as the four of them trailed over to some deep leather sofas.  
  
"Yeah, I'm working very closely with Dr. Carter," Carter replied, a look of amusement on his face.  
  
Abby did a double take and looked at Anna, "I think this deserves champagne!" She laughed gently and shook her head.  
  
"Not for me, I can't," Anna replied, suddenly feeling vibrant.  
  
"A baby?" Abby asked, a grin spread across her mouth. "Even more to celebrate, how about you three join me for dinner at the banquet they're holding?"  
  
There were no arguements on that matter, "How about we check out the room?" Carter asked Anna she got up from the sofa and stretched her legs.  
  
"Do you newly weds have to be so blatant?" Abby moaned as she waved goodbye to greet some other guest across the room.  
  
"And I'll now what you're getting up to, I'm just next door remember!" Maggie warned as she headed in the direction of the bar.  
  
"We're not that obvious are we?" Carter asked as they wheeled their suitcases to the elevator.  
  
"Certainly not," Anna stepped into the compartment, and grinned as she slapped his behind.  
  
******  
  
"Mind if I sit down?"  
  
Maggie sneered at the man in question, "No, my invisible friend is there. Fuck off."  
  
The man chuckled softly, it was only nine thirty and she had obviously drunk at least twice as much alcohol she really should have. The bar wasn't busy tonight as most of the rooms had been taken up by doctors on the emergency medicine conference.  
  
"Shouldn't you be in the banquet?"  
  
"Shouldn't you keep your nose out of other people's business?" Maggie replied tartly, he words not slurred in the slightist.  
  
He was silent for a second, "So what's your room number?"  
  
"Room 666, piss off you asshole," Maggie replied as hopped off her bar stool, rubbing her head. The man's brash attitude was strangely familiar. Or maybe everyone seemed that annoying after five shots of tequila.  
  
******  
  
You can try to resist  
Turn away from my kiss  
But you know  
But you know that you  
Can't fight the moonlight  
  
******  
  
"Oh god," Anna sighed. The water was beautiful.   
  
The moonlight highlighted the soft ripples and played on the waves that softly carressed the sand.   
  
The delicate starlight was enchanting, as light as her her heart felt at that moment.  
  
She turned to Carter who was laid on his back next to his dinner jacket and discarded bow-tie, his head resting on a slight raise in the sand dunes. "I couldn't think of a more perfect conference."  
  
Anna made a quick decision not to worry that her burgandy velvet dress would probably be devilishly hard to clean afterwards, but the sight of her husband there made her do something on impulse. She sank backwards with a sigh and fell limply onto the sand, finding it less soft than she would've expected.  
  
Carter's shoulder cushioned her head as they looked up at the stars through the palms, one hand letting sand collect then fall through her finger tips.  
  
For a few minutes they just lay in each others arms. Not a word was spoken. Until Anna's hand strayed from Carter's chest...  
  
"Anna!" He looked mildly shocked as she raised her eyebrows, her mahogany eyes innocent.  
  
"Yes?"  
  
He gazed at her, his hand tickling up her the inside of her leg. She sucumbed to a fit of giggles as he continued, her body trapped mercilessly under his. His hand inched higher and higher, until...  
  
"Car-" her rebuke cut short as he kissed her passionately. She would have been a fool to protest, but her head moved slowly away, unwillingly interupting their kiss.  
  
He sensed her thoughts in a second, "It isn't at all comfortable, is it?"  
  
"Not at all," she laughed lightly. "You know those movies were couples make love on the sand?"  
  
"Yeah," Carter replied.  
  
"I couldn't think of anything more awkward...sand *everywhere*...ugh!" She made a face, which made him laugh.  
  
"Thanks, I don't really want to think about that!" Carter managed to say as he dropped onto his back by her side.  
  
"Shouldn't we get a photo of the ocean?" Anna breathed, sitting up, fingers caressing his hair, "So we can boast about it to the people stuck in Chicago?"  
  
Carter smiled, "I'll go get the camera. You stay here, exactly where you are!"  
  
"Don't be too long, it looks like those clouds might ruin the evening."  
  
Anna fell back onto the sand, a contented smile played upon her mouth as she reluctantly let Carter walk back to the hotel with his jacket slung over his shoulder.  
  
"I'll be waiting!"   
  
*********  
  
Under the starlight, star bright  
There's a magical feeling   
So right  
It'll steal your heart tonight  
  
*********  
  
Maggie rapped quickly on the door of Room 536, relieved to hear footsteps approaching. She had an uneasy feeling in her stomach. She brushed her unruly hair our of her eyes as the door opened.  
  
"Carter!"  
  
His brow creased as he saw her flushed expression noticed the slight swaying of her body as she gripped onto a table by the door. "What's the matter, Maggie?"  
  
She looked behind him into the room to see it empty, the only thing he was holding was a camera and keys.  
  
Panic rushed across her face, "Where's Anna?"  
  
*******  
  
The heady sea breeze played on Anna's face, billowing her hair against the tree. The feel of the palm's rough bark massaged her back through the material of her dress. Anna let her eyes close and the anticipation of the feel of Carter's lips on her own, washed over her as if she were the sand of the beach. She was so wrapped up in her fantasy, that she was sure that he was kissing her.  
  
Slowly she opened her eyes and recoiled in fright. Pinned under his arms against the palm tree, her heart scattered with palpitations and her skin rubbed painfully against the bark.  
  
His mouth smiled, but his eyes were cold and unwelcoming, "Hello, Anna."   
  
Anna broke out in a cold sweat, repulsed at the feel of his arms which were resting uncomfortably on her shoulders. Slight drops of rain started to drum down on the canopy of leaves, some reaching her face.  
  
"Get away from me, Max!"  
  
Max Rosher gazed at Anna, his face not revealing a single emotion. But his eyes, they told of her greatest fears.  
  
"What the hell are you playing at?" He hissed, each breath hitting her squarely on her nose.   
  
She squirmed and turned her head away, not daring to meet his gaze. Her tears were now mingled with the cold drops of rain which ran from her head. Unbelievingly she caught glimpse of a knife, shining evilly in his hand.  
  
"What are you trying to achieve?" A nervous laugh was emitted through her teeth, "I really don't know you anymore, Max!"  
  
Max smirked, "You don't know *me*? What happened to you Anna, why did you leave me at the altar, and get married to some...drug addict that you barely knew a year?"  
  
Anna couldn't take this torture.  
  
"You and John may have a lot of things in common," she admitted her voice loud and tense. "But there is one simple difference between you. I may have loved you once- a long time ago...but not anymore."  
  
Max's tone softened and he jerked her head up with a harsh finger. "What changed, Anna? We were perfect, we belong to-"  
  
She cut him short, "Yes we were, we were perfect...just keep telling yourself that. Make it true."  
  
"It could all change, come back to Philidelphia," Max pleaded.   
  
Her answer was short.  
  
"No."  
  
He lifted up the knife, "Well, so help me God if I make the rest of your life hell."  
  
"Max." Anna replied, her words short and clear in the night air. "It couldn't change because I love John...I loved him even when I came back to Philly with you. I was a coward then, but I learned a *lot* from those two years."  
  
He pushed her head against the tree, "Bitch!"  
  
Anna cried out in agony, "I can't ignore my feelings just for you. For heaven's sake Max, I love John, not you!"  
  
He waved the knife closer to her face, "Well your married 'bliss' will be rather short, I'm afraid."  
  
Her voice shook, "One day with John is worth more to me than 60 year's miserable marriage to you, Max!"  
  
Max's eyes grew fiercer as he moved his face so close to Anna's that their noses met.  
  
"What does he think of me, Anna?" Max asked, his breath misting her wet face. "Did you tell him why I took Perocet all those years?"  
  
Anna stayed silent.   
  
Max's face fell.  
  
"You didn't tell him about Bosnia, you just let him believe I was a useless junkie, didn't you?"  
  
  
  
  
  
  
TO BE CONTINUED  
  
  
Feedback to a.t.e.c.  
or annadelamico@yahoo.co.uk  
www.neoxer.com/fic/Anna.html  
www.fanfiction.net Author ID: Anna Rousseau 


	7. Even Angels Fall

Title: 'Even Angels Fall'  
Series: 'Two Years On VII'  
Author: Anna Rousseau annadelamico@yahoo.co.uk  
Genre: JC/AD  
Rating: PG-13  
Set: Alternate Universe Season 7  
Songs Used: 'Even Angels Fall' Jessica Riddle & 'Your Winter' Save Ferris [Both from 'Ten Things I Hate About You' Soundtrack]  
Previous Parts: 'Someone Old, Something New'; 'I Won't Leave You Lonely'; 'Welcome Back, Dr Carters'; 'This Year's Love'; 'Hopelessly Addicted'; 'Clouds In My Coffee'  
  
Summary: Carter is married to Anna (she came back at the beginning of my season 7) they got married and they are having a baby. Kerry sent them to an ER conference in Hawaii where they met up with Maggie Doyle (who got chatted up by some guy- Max) and bumped into Abby Keaton. Carter left Anna on the beach at after dinner to get a camera. Then, low and behold, guess who should come along with a 'Doug's Being Seeing Them-I Was Married' Baseball Bat MomentTM but Anna's blast from the past - Max Rosher.   
  
Confused? I am.  
  
Notes:   
As you know, putting a series to a close is really sad for most authors, yet the relief of completing something you worked on for ages does seem rewarding. When I wrote 'Someone Old, Something New' it was supposed to be a on-off fic, but somehow it turned into a seven part series, and changed from romance to drama in an odd way. But hey, I loved writing it, and I hope you liked reading it.  
Probably you should read Part V ['Hopelessly Addicted'] and Part VI ['Clouds In My Coffee'] so you know what's going on! This is the final part, so I want to say thank you to all those who have read this series and still enjoy Carter-Anna fics, especially thanks to Monica, Pebbles, Kitty, Carrie, Michelle H (for getting me interested in JC-AD fic), Ceindreadh and Cathy for giving me encouragement: this was my first series and I am relatively new on the fic scene, May 2000. And thanks to everyone I forgot!  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, I'm just borrowing them for a while. I promise to return them all relatively safely...don't sue me.  
  
  
  
'TWO YEARS ON VII - EVEN ANGELS FALL'  
====================================  
  
  
Anna remained very still for a moment. Just standing there, looking at Max. Looking at all the pent up aggression that showed in his eyes.  
  
"Well," Max asked, in slight despair. "Did you tell him?"  
  
She looked quickly to the floor, feelings of guilt and betrayal flooding over her like darkness of the passing clouds. Rain continued to fall and dampen their clothes, their teeth knocking slightly together every so often.  
  
"Max, I'm cold. Can we go inside," she asked, her eyes pleading with him.  
  
He stepped back, releasing his grip on Anna's arms. She rubbed her skin, now all goosebumped and her fingers wrinkled from the rain. Max ran a hand through his hair and collapsed against a palm tree, staring at the ground for several seconds. He folded up the knife and placed it in his pocket.  
  
"Max...I...it," Anna tried to find a way to project what excuses her brain was rapidly manufacturing, but nothing came out from her mouth.  
  
He looked up at her again, to her smeared makeup, sodden dress and drenched hair. Max breathed slowly through his teeth and suddenly spoke quite softly.  
  
"He doesn't know."  
  
Anna nodded and met his eyes. "Max, it was the most horrible experience of my entire life, those children-"  
  
Her eyes were welling up in tears, "They were there, dying and we had no way of helping them, Max. The bombers just blew them up, regardless. It was the worst way for a third-year to spend a pediatric rotation. I guess that's why I never felt really happy with you."  
  
Max looked at her, "Because I took you out there."  
  
Anna shook her head. "No, that wasn't your fault Max, you weren't really to blame, I was young, naive I guess. I just thought I had fallen in love with you and didn't care were you took me."  
  
She swallowed, her voice was slightly hoarse from holding back the tears.  
  
"Max." She started, reaching for his hand and pushing his chin up. "Every time I looked at you...saw the pain you were in from that bullet they shot at you, because you were protecting the children of their enemy, I saw the blood, and..and the children, all dead and their limbs...all...all...bent back..." she was sobbing through her words.   
  
Max stroked her hair, but Anna recoiled instantly. "I just couldn't, could never stand to be reminded of that day after day."  
  
"So that was it?" Max asked, bewildered.  
  
Anna choked back her tears and shook her head violently. "No, I could have coped with it I suppose if you hadn't used me as a punchbag. So I guess I went to Chicago to get away from the memories."  
  
"I'm a bad person," Max commented looking up at the sky.  
  
"No," Anna said slowly. "Just not a strong one. Well stubbornness is strong but in a negative way."  
  
"I did try, Anna."  
  
She watched him pleading with her, "But you wouldn't accept anyone's help..." Anna trailed off, her eyes raised to the sky. Everything was silent for a few minutes and she laughed softly to herself quite suddenly.  
  
"You know, we have a Croatian attending," she told Max, blinking away the last of her tears. "His whole family was killed in the war, wife and two children...I've only talked to him once about something not related to work, in fact, he's probably the only other person I ever told of my own free will about my time in Bosnia. Max, that is how much it hurts, to even think of it feels like someone's ripping out my heart."  
  
Max touched her on the shoulder and gave her a smile, moved by the emotion in her voice and her emotive bloodshot eyes.   
  
"I guess I've been fighting a losing battle," Max said, retracting his hand and wiping his forehead with it.  
  
Anna took a small breath, "Max, I love John. You know that. We're married, the baby's on the way...I have a new life now, I had one two years ago, but I put it on hold because I wasn't certain."  
  
Max examined her face for a moment, "Are you certain now, Anna? Are you happy."  
  
"Yes," she replied truthfully. "I am happy, I just hope you find a person as good to you as John is to me."  
  
"As long as you love him and he loves you..." Max said, watching Anna's reassuring nod.  
  
He looked out to the sea and then to the sky before his eyes settled on her again. "And that's probably all I needed to know."  
  
Anna gave him a little smile, "It takes a while to realise these things, I know."  
  
"Anna-" Max started tapping tree trunk with his fingers, "I'm very sorry, for everything...I'm clean you know, I am trying..."  
  
Anna shook her head, "Don't Max, it's OK...I was never asking you to get clean for me, I was worried about you. I always thought drug abuse showed a great lack of self-respect, and you had quite a few good qualities you should respect...it's great that you've realised that...I don't mean to sound patronizing-"  
  
"You're not," Max chuckled. "You're just being Anna Del Amico I guess, sorry, Anna Carter I mean...thanks."  
  
"Good luck, Max." Anna replied with a brief hug.  
  
Max smiled back, "I'm sure you'll be very happy, make sure he treats you right, and Anna...tell him, not for me to know that Carter...pities me, but just so he knows what you've been through, and why you're such a strong woman."  
  
Anna nodded, "I'll keep that in mind."  
  
Max walked away from the trees and looked back at her briefly.  
  
"That Maggie Doyle...is she just a bad drunk, or is she attached, cos she gave me a really big brush off back there."  
  
Anna laughed in spite of herself, "She's gay, Max...anyway, were you holding her at knife point at the time?"  
  
Max rubbed his chin, "Sorry about that."  
  
Anna shrugged her shoulders, "You're a worse drunk than Maggie, Max. I know."  
  
"Well, I'm gonna head off," Max said pointing to a car park in the distance.  
  
"Get a cab, Max," Anna asked. "I don't want you killing anybody, or yourself."  
  
"I've got a cell phone in the car," Max nodded then paused. "Good luck with the baby."  
  
"Good luck, bye Max."  
  
"Bye, Anna."  
  
Max Rosher turned and walked away down the beach breaking into a run before reaching a small car park where he climbed into his beaten-up Ford and sat with a map on the dashboard.  
  
Anna watched him intently as she sighed into the night air, rain landing in her mouth. Using all the motivation she had, Anna started to walk down the beach.  
  
***  
  
  
The grey ceiling on the earth  
Well it lasted for a while  
Take my thoughts for what they're worth  
I've been acting like a child  
Your opinion what is that   
It's just a different point of view  
  
What else, what else can I do  
I said I'm sorry   
I'm sorry  
I said I'm sorry  
But what for  
If I hurt you then I hate myself  
Don't want to hate myself  
Don't want to hurt you  
  
Well I won't be your winter  
And I won't be any one's excuse to be cry  
And we can be forgiven  
And I will be here  
  
  
***  
  
  
"Anna?"  
  
"ANNA!!"  
  
"Oh God, oh God...ANNA?"  
  
"Carter..."  
  
Carter whirled around to face Maggie Doyle, "What?"   
  
His face was flushed red, his brown hair plastered to his forehead by the rain and he was panic struck. The wind was getting stronger and it whistled violently through the trees, driving every drop of rain as hard as a blade against their skin.  
  
Maggie pulled her jacket around her tighter, stamping the sand off her feet whilst dodging the angry sea that was breaking against the beach, "You said you left her here, right?"  
  
Carter looked at the spot in amongst the palms before replying, "Yeah...yeah, right here."  
  
They moved over to the area, Carter knelt down as if he were looking for some sort of clue to her whereabouts.  
  
"Carter, look," Maggie called from a few yards away. She pointed to a set of prints made by a man. He looked closer, they ran alongside prints made by high heeled shoes.  
  
Carter gulped, "Did...did he take her, Maggie?"  
  
She shook her head, her wet curls stuck to her neck. "I don't know...he didn't seem...violent, maybe those are your prints and, and Anna went back to the hotel when it was raining."  
  
He looked back from her to the prints, "Are you sure it was Max?"  
  
"Carter, I was half-drunk...I thought it was him, but maybe-"  
  
"God, God, God..." Carter exclaimed, dropping to the sand and hitting the sand with his fist. "How the hell did this happen?"  
  
Maggie pulled him up by the arm and dragged him in the direction of the hotel, "Let's check the hotel before we start getting worked up. And, uh, and if we can't find her-"  
  
"I'll kill myself," Carter replied wringing his hands together.   
  
"We'll call the police," Maggie corrected. Soon she joined Carter at a sprint towards the foyer along the beach, their trouser legs getting splashed by the crashing waves of the Pacific Ocean.  
  
Carter's mind was in turmoil. He wasn't going to loose Anna again, especially not to Max.  
  
Carter knew that if he did have to live without her, he might as well be dead.  
  
***  
  
  
You found hope  
You found faith  
Found how fast she could take it away  
Found true love  
Lost your heart   
Now you don't know who you are  
  
  
She made it easy  
Made it free  
Made you hurt till you couldn't see  
Sometimes it stops  
Sometimes it flows  
Baby, that is how love goes  
  
  
You will fly  
And you will crawl  
God knows even angels fall  
No such thing as you lost it all  
God knows even angels fall  
  
  
It's a secret  
No-one tells  
One day it's heaven, one day it's hell  
It's no fairy tale, take it from me  
That's the way it's supposed to be  
  
  
***  
  
  
"Hey."  
  
"What happened, are you OK?"  
  
Anna's teeth were chattering as she spoke, she was curled up in a chair opposite their hotel room, drenched to the bone.  
  
"I didn't have a key, so I...I..." She started to cry dry tears into her lap.  
  
Maggie looked on, concerned, "You OK, Carter?"  
  
"Yeah, you get some sleep."  
  
Maggie nodded and slipped quitely into her hotel room. Carter unlocked their door and picked her up carefully, carrying her into their room and kicking the door shut behind him, "Aww, honey. Are you hurt?"  
  
Anna began to relax in his arms as Carter sat down on the bed with her, stroking her hair and pressing his lips to her face.   
  
"I'm not hurt...I'm fine, just the hormones making me emotional." She sniffled with a little laugh.  
  
Carter looked at her, not believing a word she said. "You better get out of that dress quickly, or you'll get something worse than a chill."  
  
Anna nodded slowly, as Carter helped her to her feet. She began to pull off her shoes and stopped until he came back with a set of fluffy white towels, she could hear the tub being run un the bathroom.  
  
"I can't reach the zipper," Anna said, leaning slightly against the wall.  
  
"I'll get it," Carter said, dropping the towels on the bed and moving behind her. He began to unhook the top of the gown but was interuppted by her weak voice.  
  
"I'm sorry you aren't doing this under more romantic circumstances," she laughed to herself nervously as Carter chuckled. Anna felt him unzip the spoilt dress and let it fall down around her, she stepped out of it and was enveloped by a deep, soft towel and his arms.  
  
He didn't mention the scratch marks on her back and the early signs of bruising on her arms, Carter just wanted to make sure she was warm again before he started to ask her about Max.  
  
Without warning he picked her up off her feet and sat her on the bed. Sitting beside her, Carter picked up another towel and started to dry her hair gently with it, first washing her smeared makeup off with a warm flannel from the wash basin.  
  
Carter paused for a moment as Anna wriggled out of her underwear and stockings, "God that feels better."  
  
He smiled, continuing to dry her hair, "Being wet and cold isn't pleasant."   
  
"Hmm, you look like a wet rat too," Anna answered as she picked up a towel and began to dry his hair at the same time. She watched him laugh.  
  
"Rat?"  
  
Anna smiled, "A handsome wet rat, a hamster maybe."  
  
"Thanks!" Carter replied, pretending to be offended. They both laughed.  
  
Neither of them talked for a long time, as they concentrated on getting each other to stop shivering.  
  
Anna looked into Carter's eyes and took a deep breath, "I saw Max tonight."  
  
Carter watched her face, "I know, Maggie saw him earlier."  
  
"He went back," Anna explained. She took another breath, "He didn't hurt me...we sorted things out before he did anyway...the problem was that I haven't been truthful to you."  
  
Carter's eyes fell, "Oh."  
  
"I promised you I'd never leave you Carter, you don't have to look so worried."  
  
Carter breathed out, "What's the matter?"  
  
Anna swallowed and reached for his hand, "Max got hooked on Perocet because someone shot him in the shoulder, about five years ago...I should have told you really-"  
  
"It doesn't matter," Carter said, rubbing her hand.  
  
"It does, it does, because I made you feel sorry for me because of Max's addiction-"  
  
Carter shook his head, "It didn't give him the right to treat you that way, Anna."  
  
"I know, I just feel I should have told you."  
  
"Did he get shot in Philly?"  
  
Anna coughed, "No...that's what I should have told you, Carter. He got shot by a Serb sniper in a UN hospital in Bosnia, they were after the Croat child he was treating; it was terrible."  
  
Carter raised his eyebrows, "You were there?"  
  
"Yeah, I followed Max out of there in the summer after my third year of med school. I thought I was being adventurous, helping out old Uncle Sam, but all it left me were nightmares. I nearly gave up pediatrics after that. Chicago was a new life for me, away form Max and the memories - and I found you, and if those years I spent with Max had one virtue, it's that they brought us together."  
  
Even now, Anna was close to tears at the thought of what a terrible mess she had been in for all those years. She promised herself to tell Carter more about what happened to her in Bosnia, but at the moment she was too exhausted to go through it all again.  
  
"Thank you for telling me," Carter said, kissing her head. "It must have been like awful, I can see how Dr. Kovac was affected by it. I'm glad that I know what you've been through."  
  
"I love you," Anna said, bursting into tears all of a sudden.  
  
"Hey," Carter drew her next to him and gave her a kiss on the lips, an innocent, trusting kiss. "I love you too."  
  
They sat there together, for ages just appreciating each other's closeness, until Anna drew away quickly, wiping her tears with a bath towel.  
  
"Do you hear that?" Anna asked running to the bathroom.  
  
"What?" Carter called from the bedroom.  
  
"The tub's overflowing!"  
  
Carter ran over into the bathroom, "No it's not-"  
  
Anna grinned as she pushed him into the jacuzzi bath, watching as the bubbles spilt over the lip of the tub onto the tiled floor and laughed at Carter madly scrambling to the surface, his evening shirt so wet it was transparent.  
  
"Not fair," Carter spluttered as he waded to the side of the bath on his knees.  
  
"Hey!" Anna giggled as he grabbed her towel off her, she knelt down opposite him on the floor and pointed her index finger at him, "Who do you think you are, mister?"  
  
Carter grinned back at her as he picked her up and let her fall into the tub next to him, sending water flying into the air, "Mr Carter thought Mrs Carter should get in the tub before anyone sees her with no clothes on."  
  
Anna spat a stream of soapy water into his face as she climbed into his arms, pulling his bowtie off and giving him a kiss. "Mrs Carter thinks Mr Carter has an unfair majority of the clothes in this tub."  
  
Carter's arms tightened around her waist, drawing her closer. They smiled at each other for a while before Carter spoke, "I love you, Anna."  
  
"I love you too, John," Anna replied as he suddenly gave her a passionate kiss, ducking them under the suds.  
  
***  
  
  
You laugh   
You cry  
No-one knows why  
But oh, the thrill of it all  
You're on the ride  
You might as well   
Open your eyes  
  
  
***  
  
  
THE END  
  
  
Hope you liked  
  
Happy New Year to the gang at a.t.e.c...I hope 2001 produces even better fics than 2000, if that is possible, with you lot.  
  
Feedback  
annadelamico@yahoo.co.uk  
www.neoxer.com/fic/Anna.html  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



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